Special thanks goes out to Sonomom - without all of your help, I'd be lost! Thank you for being my friend and editor :)
This is my first one shot, as well as my first published fanfiction. I'd love to know what you all thought about it. I have another one in the works that will be a chapter story, and will start posting when I get close to finishing it!
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, JE does. I'm just glad to have the opportunity to play with them a bit!
Frank and Helen
by LoveTheWizard
Frank and Helen Plum stood at the front of their garage early Saturday morning. Frank had moved his Buick Le Sabre, cab, and Uncle Sandor's '53 Buick to the street, in case they needed room in the driveway for what they were planning on doing.
They've been married for almost forty years and have lived in the same house for over thirty-five. The house has stayed pretty much the same, aside from a few furniture, appliance, and wallpaper changes.
However when Frank was at the lodge on Thursday, his friend, Carmine Delgado, talked him into coming over to his house to see his newly remodeled basement, which he dubbed his Man Cave.
Carmine took his old cellar, which was very similar to Frank's, and turned it into a very clean, very relaxing, very cool quasi-apartment. Frank knew this would be his new project. He came home and told his wife all about it. She hadn't seen him this excited in a very long time, if ever. Usually he tried to take the easy way out when doing work, but this time around, he wanted a new basement and he wanted it done perfectly.
"We have to waterproof down there, then I want to lay concrete on the floor. After it dries, we will frame the walls and hang drywall. Then I want you to help me decorate it," he told Helen.
"Oh, Frank," Helen sighed. "This is wonderful. What is your overall plan with it?"
"I'm not sure yet, we could do anything," Frank said. He knew he definitely wanted to put in a second bathroom. Fighting for the only bathroom every morning with his mother-in-law had given him more gray hairs than he'd like to admit. He wouldn't mind a second TV room, or turning it into a bedroom for his mother-in-law. He chuckled at the thought of moving her bedroom down there just for the opportunity to refer to it as a dungeon.
"We'll make a list of all the things we'd like to do," Helen said, "and then I'll find out who in the family can help us with the work."
"Okay," Frank said, nodding. "We'll need to clear out the cellar before starting any of this. We can move whatever is down there to the garage and then go through it and see what we want to keep and what we want to toss."
This made Helen slightly nervous. She didn't consider herself a pack rat per say, but there were things that held memories she'd rather not get rid of, if she could help it. Seeing the look on her husband's face, however, made her remember why she fell in love with him in the first place. When they met he was full of life and excitement, and had a certain twinkle in his eyes that luckily was passed on to their youngest daughter, Stephanie. Helen saw a lot of Frank in Stephanie, which, she thought, is probably why she wanted her daughter to settle down with a husband and children. She knew how happy Frank made her, and knew that Stephanie would make whoever she chose equally as happy.
Their oldest daughter was already married and had four children. Helen considered Valerie to be more similar to her. Valerie was a serene child, and was often referred to as Saint Valerie. She was a wonderful student, and soon became a wonderful wife and mother. She had a few bumps in the road since then, but she's getting it back together and is becoming a prominent figure in the Burg. Helen no longer had to worry about Valerie.
Well, Frank thought, first thing's first. He'd call his girls and have them send over their significant others. Albert Kloughn wasn't much in the muscle department, but Stephanie usually had either Joe Morelli or a large man wearing black following her around. Sometimes it was Ranger, sometimes it was a different ex-thug. They seemed like good enough guys, and they had the equipment to get the job done. He decided to call Stephanie first.
When Stephanie saw 'home' on the caller ID, she immediately thought it was her mother or grandmother.
"Hello?"
"Hi Kiddo," said a voice she wasn't used to hearing on the phone.
"Hey Dad, what's going on?"
"Your mother and I are clearing out the cellar. Would you be free to help tomorrow afternoon?"
"Uh, sure Dad. Why are you cleaning it out?"
"My buddy, Carmine, just did his up and I think we could do something like that. Get a second bathroom, put a TV down there, maybe a card table."
"Dad, you're not thinking of moving down there, are you?" Steph joked with him.
"Ha, maybe I could talk your grandmother into moving down there."
Stephanie smiled at the thought. "Grandma Mazur would probably love that, especially since there's an outdoor entrance to the cellar. She could sneak in her dates." She wished they had a finished basement when she was a teenager.
"I'm glad we didn't," Frank told her.
Did she say that out loud? Whoops.
"Okay, Dad. Do you need me to bring anything?"
"Well, I'm going to ask Valerie and Albert to help, if you can get someone to help, too, it would really move things along."
"So, you want me to see if Lula is free?"
"Christ," Frank sighed. "She'd kill herself in the shoes she wears going up and down the stairs."
Stephanie smiled. "I was kidding, Dad. I'll see what I can round up with muscles and sneakers."
"Thanks, we'll see you around one tomorrow."
Stephanie hung up with her dad, and tried to decide who she was going to call. She knew redoing the basement would be good for their household. Especially having a second bathroom. She'd no longer have to worry about an "accidental" shooting between Grandma and Dad. Now to worry about which muscle she was going to ask to come with her.
Frank closed the phone after talking with his daughters. Valerie and Albert would drop the kids off at Albert's mother's house. Stephanie would bring herself and whoever she could scrounge up. He left it up to Helen to decide what to do with her mother.
Everything was taken care of for today, and all Frank wanted was to sit at his spot at the dinner table and have spaghetti and meatballs in peace and quiet.
Friday morning started the same as any other day. Helen woke up earlier than her husband and mother so she was able to shower and use the bathroom without disturbing anybody else. She knew about twenty minutes after she finished her morning routine, it would be a battle between Edna and Frank. She tried telling Frank she'd wake him up after she was done, but he was set in his ways. Unfortunately, so was her mother. It was a battle every morning, but it was a part of their routine. Helen secretly thought of it as being what's keeping them young and spunky.
After she dressed and dried her hair, she went to the kitchen to whip up pancakes. She decided on this particular breakfast because she needed to make phone calls and pancakes were easy to handle while talking on the phone. She set the list she and Frank had made the day before on the table and went through her address book, calling friends and family who had the skills she needed.
She came across Joe Morelli's phone number and knew that his cousin "Mooch" Morelli (why anyone would want a nickname like that, she didn't know) worked in construction and had helped Joe with finishing his basement. The only thing holding her back from calling him was that she was unsure on his relationship with her daughter, Stephanie. They reconnected years ago when her daughter first became a bounty hunter, and her first assignment happened to be to find Joseph. They became friends, and then started dating after his name was cleared. Then every so often Stephanie would show up for dinner without Joe and say they were "off-again," whatever that meant. Joseph was a cop, and was wonderful for her. He was a terrible child, coming from a terrible line of men, but he grew up and made a good life for himself. Helen had no doubt Joseph would take good care of her daughter.
Helen sighed. They had other family members who could help with the remodel, and if Joseph happened to show up with Stephanie today, she'd ask about his brother. She sat at the table and called family members who were electricians, plumbers, drywall and insulation installers and general contractors. She made a list of possible costs and what they could help with. She hoped Frank would be pleased with the effort she put into this.
Halfway through making the pancakes, Edna came downstairs.
"Good morning, Mom" Helen greeted her mother.
"Good morning, honey," Edna said, sitting at the kitchen table.
Helen brought her mother a cup of coffee and cream from the fridge.
"I tell ya," Edna said. "That cellar of yours is going to be beautiful after it's all fixed up."
"I hope so," Helen said. "Frank is really excited about it, and especially about getting a second bathroom put in."
"I'm excited about that, too. After this morning with him I was thinking about calling the port-o-potty people to have them install one in the backyard."
Helen imagined the looks on the neighbors' faces if they put one in the backyard. She imagined the phone calls and the whispers, and then she glanced at the cabinet in the corner. The one where she kept the scotch. No, she told herself. It's too early for that. "Pancakes, Mom?"
"Absolutely. I'll get the butter and syrup."
"There are blueberries and strawberries in the fridge I cut up last night. We can use them to top the pancakes, too."
Edna took the fruit, butter dish, and maple syrup out of the fridge, setting it all down on the kitchen table. She then went to the cupboard and took three plates out for herself, her daughter, and her pain in the gumpy son-in-law.
Helen brought over the pancakes and sausages from the stove, and sat with her mother. She knew Frank would be down soon, especially after smelling the sausage.
"So who's coming over to take the boxes out of the cellar?" Edna asked.
"Valerie is coming over with Albert, and Stephanie is coming over, too. She told Frank she'd find someone strong to help out. I hope it's Joseph," Helen told her.
"It's a Friday," Edna said. "Joseph always has to work. Besides, I betcha she brings over one of the sexy men who work for Ranger. Maybe if we're lucky Ranger himself will come over. I wouldn't mind seeing him using his muscles. Maybe if we turn up the heater down there, he'll have an excuse to take his shirt off."
Helen crossed herself. She wasn't sure how she felt about Ranger. He seemed to treat her daughter well, and was always cordial when he was here, but Helen knew hardly anything about him. He wore black and employed a bunch of large men who looked like, and possibly were at one point, criminals. "I guess who she chooses will be a surprise."
"Why don't we call her and invite her to breakfast? Then we'll be able to find out who's coming with her," Edna said grabbing for the cordless phone. She clicked it on and hummed as she dialed her granddaughter's phone number.
Helen couldn't hear Stephanie's side of the conversation, but she had a feeling she wouldn't refuse pancakes.
"Sure," Edna said to Stephanie, "bring him over, we have a ton of food." She hung up the phone and looked at Helen. "You better whip up some more pancakes, Stephanie is bringing a friend to breakfast."
"Which friend?"
"That big guy, Tank. The one who is sweet on Lula."
Helen wasn't sure what to make of this. It was only seven thirty in the morning, and either Tank spent the night with her daughter, or he was protecting her from something, or someone. If he is seeing Lula, then probably he is protecting Stephanie. Helen crossed herself again and said a silent prayer for Stephanie and Tank's safety.
Frank came down stairs while Helen was cooking the second batch of pancakes and ate his breakfast while reading the paper. He had a couple morning cab pickups, so he wasn't sticking around to see Stephanie or the man known as Tank. Though, any guy with a nickname like that was okay in his book, especially if he was the one who was helping them move things out of the cellar.
Twenty minutes after Frank left, Stephanie came in with Tank. Helen noticed that Tank had to bend to get into the doorway. He was a six and a half foot tall black man, and was head-to-toe muscle. His head was shaved, and he didn't carry any type of expression on his face. That is, until Edna grabbed his arm to lead him into the kitchen. He looked surprised at first, then tried to suppress a smile, which ended up coming out as a grin.
Helen had to suppress her own smile.
She fed Tank and Stephanie, confirming that Tank would indeed be the one to help them move. He made a phone call half way through breakfast and told Stephanie that they would have "back up" watching the house. There had to be something they weren't bringing up.
"Back up for what?" Helen asked.
"Same ol', same ol'," Stephanie said to her mother.
It made Tank smile, but Helen felt her heart rate increase. She grabbed her chest and took a few deep breaths.
"It's fine, Mom. Look who I have protecting me."
Helen looked at Tank. He was a big guy, and looked like he could make a career out of protecting the President.
"Who are ya hiding from?" Edna asked her granddaughter.
"Someone I put away a while ago just got out of prison and is holding a little grudge. We're working on finding him before he does anything stupid," Stephanie told her.
"Well, if you need me, I might be able to help. I have the you-know-what in the you-know-where."
Stephanie knew Grandma Mazur was referring to her gun that she kept in her bedroom closet.
She left with Tank shortly after. Helen and Edna watched Tank get Stephanie into the SUV and then drive away.
Edna was in awe of Stephanie. She's told Helen on numerous occasions that when she dies, she wants to come back and be just like Stephanie. Funny thing being Stephanie had said when she got older, she wanted to be like Grandma Mazur. When Helen wasn't so freaked out for her daughter's safety, she'd chuckle about the two of them.
"Show time," Frank said, rubbing his hands together. He changed into an old t-shirt and a pair of Nike shorts which he received as a present for Father's Day a few years back, and never wore. He thought with all the bending, lifting, and moving that those would be a better choice, so he made the executive decision to keep them and cut off the price tags.
Edna went to the beauty parlor, and Frank hoped the cellar would be clear by the time she came home. He had a working crew consisting of his wife, daughters, Albert Kloughn and the largest man he had ever seen – Tank.
The plan was to get everything that wasn't nailed down out into the garage. Then Saturday he and Helen would go through everything. There were boxes older than his daughters, and boxes from Edna's house that came with her when she moved in that probably carried things older than him. If he had his way, it would all go out to the curb, but he knew that if he upset his wife and threw away something she might want, he'd be cut off from dessert.
The clean up went well. In under two hours the cellar was clear, and the garage was packed. Tank picked up Albert's slack. Asthma. What a bunch of baloney. No one had asthma when Frank was a kid.
The only thing out of the ordinary was the fact that the entire time, there were three large black SUVs parked in front of the house. If those guys got out of the car they would have finished in half the time, but Frank had a feeling they were working, and he didn't want to know specifics.
Frank had splurged on Pino's for dinner, so his wife could relax for the evening. He figured if he buttered her up with a relaxing evening, she might be more willing to part with a few more items in the garage.
So there they were, Saturday morning, standing in front of the garage. Frank woke up early to move the cars to the street, and set up three areas in the driveway: Keep, Donate, and Trash.
Helen wore a white blouse and jeans with a light blue bandana that Frank noticed brought out the color of her eyes. He put his arm around her neck like he used to do when they were dating, and told her about the color of her eyes and how pretty she was.
Helen didn't know what to think. She once read a book where the main character learned he was dying so he started living like every day was his last, getting closer to the people he loved, doing things that were extremely out of the ordinary, and then he died, after everyone fell in love with him all over again.
"You're feeling okay, right?" She asked her husband. "I mean, you'd tell me if something was wrong?"
He silently chuckled. "I'm fine. All we have to do is get through today, then pay others to do their jobs and fix up the cellar."
"Okay then, let's get started," Helen said, grabbing her husband's hand that was still on her shoulder, giving it a little squeeze.
They went to opposite sides of the garage and started working on the boxes. They would occasionally ask the other what they thought of a certain object, but most of the time they silently worked, organizing their items into the three areas.
When everything was separated, they set out to reorganize the things they were keeping to put back into the garage. There were some bumps in the road however.
For example, Helen seemed to want to keep all of the picture frames she found. There had to have been at least fifty frames.
"What do you need all of these for?" Frank asked.
"What do you mean? I'm going to put photos in them eventually," she answered. "At least, I hope."
"You hope? If you're not going to use them, get rid of them."
"I hope because we have grandchildren from Valerie, but what about Stephanie? I want to hang photos of her babies in our house, too. I have these set aside for her photos. Her Wedding, Babies, whatever else."
"She had a wedding, and it seemed to put a bad taste in her mouth," Frank said. Who could blame her? he thought.
Helen raised her eyebrow toward him, like she knew what he was thinking, daring him to say it out loud.
"Maybe she'll never get remarried and never give us grandkids," Frank said.
They moved the pile of frames to a shelf in the garage. "I'm hoping you're wrong," Helen finally said.
Then there were the papers. Mainly drawings of what their daughters made when they were in school. Helen didn't want to part with them, but Frank was able to compromise, promising to talk to someone at the copy store to see about binding it all into a book.
There were other things they had to organize back into the garage; knickknacks, yearbooks, trophies, and old photos. They even reorganized the tools and tires that were already in there.
When all was finished, they sat on the floor of the garage, legs crossed, leaning into one another, looking at pictures from their early years as a couple. Occasionally laughing at their haircuts and strange clothing choices.
Helen choked back laughter from a picture of Frank in high school, where he was wearing a track and field uniform with shorts so short that on a girl nowadays would be considered scandalous. "Where did you... hide it?" She asked him.
"There was mesh in there, holding everything up," he told her, shaking his head and smiling. He was having a great time with his wife. He noticed that when she laughed she had the most beautiful lines at the corner of her eyes, that he felt compelled to kiss. So he did. He laid his hands on her face and brought her closer to him so he could kiss each one of her laugh lines. She was beautiful.
Helen missed this side of her husband. Playful and sexy. Sexy? It's been years since she thought of him in that kind of way. They still had somewhat of a sex life, like on the occasional holiday, birthdays, or their anniversary, but that felt like it was obligation sex. What Helen wanted to do right now was the exact opposite.
Frank felt the same way. He grabbed his wife's hand and they pulled her into the house. Edna was sitting on the couch watching the news. Frank took out his wallet and tossed forty dollars next to her, asking her to take a walk to the bakery a few blocks away and get something nice for dessert tonight.
Edna looked at him, shocked at the gesture, but shrugged and put the money into her pocket. "I'll go over to Louise Greeber's house and see if she wants to come with me."
Frank grabbed his wife's hand and they rekindled the romance which fizzled out so many years before.
Over the next three weeks they finished the basement. Turns out when you pay under the table for services, they get done much sooner, even if the chosen work hours were a little strange. It was waterproofed, the dirt floor was cemented over, they insulated the walls and hung drywall throughout. The new bathroom was the answer to all of their prayers with a new stand alone shower, double sink, and most importantly, the brand new toilet.
They laid area rugs in the main room, and put in some small pieces of furniture, still unsure on what they'd use the room for. Did Frank still want the Man Cave just like Carmine's?
In the last three weeks, Frank didn't see a need to hide from his family anymore. The yelling every morning was no more as soon as the second toilet was installed, and Frank didn't feel as much animosity toward Edna. Oh, he still thought she was as nutty as a fruitcake, he just didn't yell about it anymore.
Frank decided after reviewing his options he'd create a family room. Helen liked that idea because she would be able to hang their old photos in the frames she wanted to keep. She decided to sit back and let Stephanie run her own life. No more pressure to fill up those picture frames with photos grandchildren. Well, maybe just a little pressure.
They budgeted a certain amount of money for the entire project and were well under the amount. They purchased a new couch, television, games and toys for the grandkids, a game table for everyone to use, and a small fridge. There was enough left over for Frank to surprise his bride with a Caribbean cruise.
They invited their girls over to see the finished project and have dinner. Valerie came with her kids, who loved the game and tv areas. Stephanie came with her friend, Ranger. After the tour and dinner, Frank gave his wife the envelope with the cruise tickets and information during dessert. Helen felt so happy she started crying. She kissed her husband and sat in his lap, hugging him and laughing about whether she should thank her husband, or Carmine Delgado for everything that has happened in the last few weeks.
Stephanie hadn't seen her parents like this since, well, ever. It made her think about the man who was sitting next to her. She'd broken up with Joe Morelli almost two months before, and had been trying to find a way to talk to Ranger about trying a relationship. After seeing his amused and almost envious expression during Frank and Helen's celebration, she knew that this was the time.
They finished dessert and said their goodbyes. Ranger walked Stephanie to his car, but stood in front of her door, so she couldn't open it.
"Babe, I..." Ranger started saying.
"Ranger, I have something to say," Steph said, cutting him off. "Seeing my parents, MY parents, act that way tonight made one thing very clear."
"Babe."
"I want to have a relationship with you."
"Babe."
"It doesn't have to be something serious. I'm not proposing marriage, I just know that I want to be with you."
"Babe," Ranger said, laying a finger to her lips.
Steph looked up at him, feeling a twinge of pain in her heart from the inevitable brush off he was about to give her. Don't cry, she told herself.
"I love you," he said to her. "I want whatever you want."
Stephanie felt a surge of relief flood her body. She couldn't stop the tears from falling. "I love you, too," she told him. "I've loved you for so long."
He pulled her to his chest and hugged her. He pulled away just far enough to give her a kiss that made her knees shake. "I'm taking you to dinner tomorrow," he said, wiping away her tears.
She smiled, and he opened the car door for her.
Inside the Plum house, Frank closed the curtain and smiled. Maybe they didn't have to wait so long to fill up Helen's picture frames.
The end.