The morning's routine was a little different since it was a weekend. Arthur allowed the children to sleep in as late as they wanted while he woke up at the same time as he did on weekdays. He allowed himself a little more time in the shower to enjoy the warm water and close his eyes. Once out of the shower he dressed in more casual clothes before picking up his dirty work clothes from off his floor and carrying them into the laundry room. He started the laundry and would do the boys' clothes as well once they woke up. Once the washing machine was going, Arthur did a quick cleaning job in the family room and the kitchen.
Finding the book he had read to Matthew last night, Arthur opened it and flipped through the pages, trying to remember Matthew's answers to all of the questions. He shook his head, still displeased with how little he knew about one son when compared to the other. Pausing on a page that asked the reader his or her favorite food, Arthur read Alfred's answer: Hamburgers. Then he recalled Matthew's answer from last night: Pancakes. When was the last time they even had pancakes? Shutting the book and setting it on the kitchen counter, Arthur pulled out a recipe book that still looked new despite the dust that had gathered on it. Flipping to the breakfast section, he found a recipe for pancakes. "This doesn't look too difficult." He murmured to himself as he started to pull out the needed ingredients.
Several minutes later soupy and poorly mixed pancake batter was burning in a pan over a stove top that was turned too high. "Crap," Arthur cursed as he tried to scrape the failed cake from the pan. Burnt bits of the batter flaked off to reveal a still undercooked center. Smoke started to curl up to the ceiling and Arthur glanced worriedly at it. He knew from experience that any moment now the fire alarm would…a loud siren-like noise pierced the poor cook's thoughts and he cursed again as he scrambled to turn off the stove and open the kitchen window. He fanned the air with the cook book, trying to get the smoke to go out the window instead of to the fire alarm.
Two pairs of hurried footsteps reached Arthur's ears and were soon followed by two worried looking faces. "Is there a fire?!" Alfred shouted, clutching his brother's hand in his own.
"No no. I was just trying to make pancakes, but…" He frowned as he trailed off. He really wanted to be able to give Matthew his favorite food since they had hamburgers at least once a week.
"Pancakes?!" Alfred shouted, his jaw dropping open. "We never get pancakes! I want some!"
"M-me too!" Matthew piped up, excitement clear on his face.
"Ah, I'm…I'm sorry boys, but…" he glanced at the mess on the stove. Nothing he had made came even close to being edible. He looked back to his children and saw the disappointed looks on their faces. He hated seeing those looks. Arthur sighed, "Get dressed boys. We're going out for breakfast."
It didn't take long before the three of them were sitting in a diner, all of them eating pancakes. The pancakes looked, smelled, and tasted perfect. Arthur grumbled to himself about his cooking skills, but seeing his boys happy curbed his sour mood. He was also surprised to see how much Matthew ate and how messy he was with all the maple syrup in his excitement. Arthur thought Alfred was the messy child. Who knew Matthew was capable of being messy too?
After breakfast, Arthur took the boys into the bathroom to wash off their faces and then they took the bus back to their neighborhood. Instead of going home though, Arthur took the boys to one of their neighbor's house. A group of parents in the neighborhood had set up a system where they each took turns babysitting the kids each weekend so the other parents could have a day off. After Alfred rang the doorbell twice (and he would have rang it more if Arthur hadn't stopped him), an elderly man with tan skin and brown hair opened the door and smiled at the three people on his doorstep. "Hello Arthur, Alfred, Matthew." He stepped aside and the two boys ran inside to find the other kids to play with. After watching them go, the man returned his brown eyes to Arthur, "And how have you been, Arthur?" He asked merrily. "And the boys?"
"The same as always," he dragged a hand through his messy blond hair and thought about how much of a lie that was. If anything there was at least one very large problem that was rather new: his ex.
"Taking care of those two boys all by yourself. When are you going to get yourself a woman to help?" The old man winked. "You know there's a lovely young woman…" he started to say, playing match maker before Arthur quickly cut him off with a wave of his hand.
"No thank you, Mr. Vargas. I have no time for dating." Yet another lie. What was he going to go do later today? Lunch with Francine. Wasn't that a date? Of course it wasn't! So this wasn't exactly a lie. He wouldn't consider lunch with Francine as a date. No way in hell.
"And let me guess, you have no time for idle chit chat with an old man either? You are going to work yourself into an early grave if you keep going at this pace. Take some time to relax. Bring the boys over for a play date any day and take some time for yourself to relax, find a woman. There's nothing better in life than the soft skin of a woman."
"Mr. Vargas, please." Arthur stammered, his face flushing at the bold statements of the old man. Who knew how much he would say if Arthur allowed him to continue. "Thank you for the offer, but I wouldn't want to take advantage of your kindness."
"Bah! I won't hear it. Have the boys come over here after school on Friday and they can spend the night. Then you can go out and enjoy yourself, understand? And don't worry about Saturday either. I'll take the boys over to the Beilschmidt's so you can pick them up from there in the evening." Arthur knew better than to argue with this particular old man. When he got it in his head to do someone a kindness, there was nothing you could do to stop him. "Plus," Old Man Vargas added, "the boys really do enjoying playing together." Arthur smiled and finally nodded before agreeing, then bid the man a farewell.
Now that the boys were taken care of, Arthur returned home and put the load of laundry from the washer to the dryer and then added the kids' clothes to the washer. With the laundry set, he then turned his attention to work. Despite technically having the weekends off, he still had work to do that he had to catch up on. The reason he was able to have so much time off was under the condition that he still got a full-time amount of work done. The weekends ended up being a major cram session for Arthur as he rushed to finish all the work that had piled up on him over the course of the week and then get a jump start on the next week's course load. When the boys were entertained elsewhere, Arthur could concentrate without distractions and was always able to somehow pull through.
After working for a little over an hour, Arthur's cell phone rang. Assuming it was for work, he picked it up and answered without sparing a glance to the caller ID.
"Hello Mr. Kirkland," a female voice cooed from the other end¸ "I hope you haven't forgotten that important business meeting this afternoon. I'm calling you just as a reminder. I'd hate for you to get so engrossed in your work that you forgot."
Arthur frowned and pulled the phone from his ear to glance at the number of the caller. His eyebrows came together in a displeased expression and then he returned the phone to his ear, "No I haven't forgotten that business meeting, Francine. I suppose you want me to come over now?"
"Well I said to come over for lunch and it is lunch time now, so yes. I would like you to come over now. Don't worry, I won't take up too much of your time. I know what a busy man you are, but you did promise."
"Yes yes. Fine. I'll be right over." And with that, Arthur hung up and set the phone back down. He continued typing on his laptop for a few minutes longer before saving the document he had been working on and shutting the computer down. He sighed and glanced at the clock. He really didn't have time to be fooling around with lunch dates, but he knew that he had to go. If he didn't, who knew what Francine would do then and he didn't need to worry about her bothering him unexpectedly. At least this was planned.
Finding where he put Francine's address, Arthur didn't bother changing into anything nice as Francine had suggested to him last night and simply walked out the door wearing jeans and a light green cotton shirt. Arthur walked briskly to the bus stop and managed to just catch it before it took off down the street. Not having his work with him, Arthur shifted uncomfortably in his seat with nothing to do but look out the window and read over the address in his hands. His mind was buzzing with thoughts of what he needed to do for work, what groceries he needed to buy later, and several other tiring thoughts. Finally, he reached the stop he needed to get off on and exited the bus. After a short walk, he found the street Francine lived on. It was occupied by recently built condominiums with professionally done landscaping. There was a pool and a playground surrounded by a gate by a large office building. Arthur glanced around for a moment longer before focusing on trying to find the correct address. Not too much later, Arthur was knocking on a bright red door. It opened and Francine's smiling face appeared. "I'm almost surprised you actually came, but I'm glad. I already have lunch ready, so come in and make yourself at home and I'll pull it out of the oven."
Inside, Arthur scrutinized every aspect of the home. The carpet was a light beige color without any stains and the eggshell walls were also devoid of handprints (although that wasn't hard to keep clean without children to worry about). What really surprised Arthur were the smaller details. Everything was dusted and vacuumed and everything seemed like it was taken care of. There were even house plants that were thriving. It was obvious that this wasn't the result of a quick rush job, but that Francine truly kept her home this clean. Of course it wasn't perfect and there were a few messes here and there that proved that someone lived here. The kitchen smelled wonderful in a way Arthur could never hope to duplicate and smelling whatever it was that Francine had prepared for him distracted him completely from his inspection. His stomach rumbled as he seated himself at a square table with four chairs around it set up in a small dining area separate from the kitchen. There was a vase with a full bloomed red rose. Arthur lifted his brow at it, but then shifted his gaze to the pan that Francine pulled from the oven and set on a hot plate on the table. It was a bacon and cheese quiche that was golden brown without a trace of black. Arthur had thought that to be nearly impossible and wondered if it was even cooked all the way. No way could something be pulled out of the oven without any burnt parts, but apparently Francine had been able to do it (thanks to luck no doubt, Arthur was sure). Besides the quiche, Francine set a bowl of salad that was made up of much more than just the iceberg lettuce and ranch dressing Arthur was used to. On the opposite end of the table was a loaf of bread (also miraculously un-burnt). Finally, Francine proudly poured two glasses of red wine and placed one in front of Arthur.
"It's lunch, Francine. Wine?" He asked, having to scoff at something.
"Just one glass, Arthur. I won't get you drunk. I promise." She smiled at him as she took her seat opposite him and started dishing out her home cooked meal onto first Arthur's plate and then her own. Once he was served, Francine kept a keen eye on her ex, wanting to see how he liked real food.
Arthur loved it. After the first bite he couldn't even pretend to be grouchy anymore. He felt like he hadn't had a proper meal in ages. There was just something about food that wasn't microwaved that tasted so wonderful and the texture was softer, crunchier, and less like rubber or Styrofoam. Francine giggled at him and his reaction and Arthur shot her an annoyed look, but it quickly faded away and he was forced to admit, "You really are a wonderful chef, Francine."
"It's healthy too. I used organic ingredients and cut back on the salt, fats, and chemicals. There are no trans fats in anything I make and I use whole grain flour, although I doubt you even know what those are." Knowing that it might break the good mood Arthur was in, Francine dared to add, "Wouldn't it be best if the boys ate healthier in a time when childhood obesity is on the rise?"
Sure enough Arthur frowned, but he didn't explode or even give an immediate rebuttal. Instead, Arthur chewed his current bite, swallowed, and then answered curtly, "It would." And then he continued eating without another word.
Francine blinked in surprise and put her fork down. Did Arthur just agree with her? And on a matter concerning the boys too? She couldn't believe it and she just stared at the man across the table from her for a long moment.
"I agree that the boys should be eating healthily. What father wouldn't want their children to be healthy? I never said that I wanted you to be the one to cook those meals for them so don't look so excited, Francine."
Laughing lightly, the woman nodded and picked up her fork again. "Of course. Then who will be the one to cook meals? Will you hire someone? I don't think you have the funds for that and I know for certain that you won't be the one to cook. And you just can't trust restaurants to be as healthy as they claim to be."
"I'll think of something," Arthur said and then took another bite of this wonderful food, wishing there was some way his boys (and himself) could eat like this all the time.
"Yes, yes, I'm sure, but I won't ruin this lovey lunch by talking about that. I know it upsets you and that's not my goal today."
"Oh? And what exactly is your goal for today then, Francine?" Arthur glanced up at her, curious, but continued eating.
Francine paused and organized her thoughts so that she could state her goal as elegantly as possible. "I want to prove to you that I have changed for the better. Take a look around. Would the old me have been able to cook a wonderful meal? Be able to hold down a steady job to be able to pay for organic ingredients and a lovely home like this? Be able to keep a home like this clean?"
Arthur chuckled softly. The food had successfully put him in a good mood and he even smiled, but that didn't mean he was going to give in so easily. "Cleaning up after yourself is basic. You might have improved since you last tried being a mother, but are you up to mother standards? Could you keep a house this clean with two children living in it?"
A sly smile crept across Francine's lips and her eyes twinkled in anticipation of her saying something that she felt was oh so clever, "Oh, but didn't you know? There are two children living here."
Just about to swallow a mouth full of quiche, Arthur coughed at the statement. "What?" He asked. Francine was living with children? Did she knock some other less responsible man up and get saddled with yet another pair of twins? If she already had kids then why was she so damned interested in his? She wasn't married, was she? No, Arthur spied no ring although these days it was becoming more and more acceptable to start a family even without being married (hell, he was willing to do it all those years ago). Was there really another man? Were there really other children? No, no. He shouldn't jump to conclusions like that. Maybe she was taking care of some younger cousins or nieces or nephews for a short vacation or something.
Enjoying her private joke, Francine nodded her head and continued calmly, "Yes. You didn't think I was living in this big condo all by my lonesome did you?" She was enjoying watching Arthur sweat and she could almost see his thought process displayed across his face as if it were a movie screen. She took a small sip of wine and then added easily, "Would you like to meet them?" She paused and smiled at Arthur. Then, before he could answer, she called out, "Oh, girls! Come out here and meet my guest, will you?"
From down the hall, beyond one of the doors to a bedroom came a girl's voice, "But you told us to stay in our rooms until he was gone." Arthur tried to guess the age of the girl the voice belonged to. It didn't sound like a very young girl. In fact, Arthur would have guessed that the voice belonged to a female about the same age as Francine, but, being misled as he was, Arthur placed the voice as belonging to a middle schooler, give or take. It was the only thing that made sense except really it wasn't making any sense and Arthur's confusion was obvious.
Francine laughed again and then answered the voice, "I changed my mind. I want you to meet him and him to meet you."
Without any further ado, the sound of a door opening and closing filled the air and then two pairs of footsteps traveled down the hallway towards the small kitchen. Arthur turned around in his seat to stare at the hallway. His eyes widened in suspense as he waited for the mysterious girls to appear, wondering what they would look like, who the father was, and several other taunting questions. Then they appeared. Two girls standing side by side, each sharing a teasing grin, giddy at their joke. The first thing Arthur noticed was their age. They weren't middle schoolers. They were Francine's age (and his own for that matter). The second thing he noticed (although it probably shouldn't have mattered at that point) was that they looked nothing like Francine and thus couldn't be related in any way, not mother-daughter or aunt-niece. Once these initial observations were registered in Arthur's head, he was able to absorb the rest of their appearance. The first was strikingly pale with long white hair and red eyes. Arthur couldn't help but stare, having never seen an albino before. She was wearing baggy black shorts and a white tank top that covered her meager breasts. Her smile was mischievous and a little threatening as if she was a wolf keeping a careful eye on her prey. The second was much darker skinned in comparison to the albino, and had dark brown hair and deep green eyes. She wore a red skirt with a black trim and a matching blouse that emphasized her figure perfectly. Her smile was friendlier and more inviting although it did have that mocking hint to it and Arthur knew that it was directed to him, the butt of the joke.
Sitting back in his chair and relaxing his tensed up muscles, Arthur spat angrily, "Haha, very funny. So who are they? Roommates?" His back was turned to the girls and he picked up his fork again, not valuing the girls enough to spare them any more attention.
"Oh, he's just charming. Is this really the guy you keep going off about, Francine?" The albino asked, her tone mocking and sarcastic plus she had a bit of an accent that Arthur placed as being German. She walked up to the table and pulled out one of the extra chairs between Francine and Arthur and sat down.
The other girl took the last seat and also sat down, examining Arthur carefully. "He's not even that good looking either. Look at those eyebrows! Francine, I think we need to get your eyes checked." Her voice also had an obvious (but different) accent and was a bit thicker than the other girl's.
Dropping his fork, Arthur glared at Francine. Was he here to be criticized and mocked by her friends? She was doing an awful good job of pissing him off and further ruining her chances of ever getting to even see her children again.
Without even looking at Arthur, Francine could feel his anger rolling off him. Calmly, she addressed her friends, "Gretchen, Isabel, be nice. Did you forget that I am trying to impress him?"
The tanner girl quickly replied, "Why would you want to impress him? You could do so much better." Her accent was Spanish, Arthur finally decided.
Then the albino spoke, "Besides, you shouldn't worry about what we do. Heck, if we're extra impolite and rude it'll make you look like a fucking saint!"
"Gretchen! Language," Francine scolded as if she were scolding a five year old.
The German albino named Gretchen just rolled her eyes, "Yeah yeah, whatever." Then she turned her attention back to Arthur and complained, "She treats us like children sometimes."
"That's because you act like children." Francine retorted with a slight huff.
"Don't act like the responsible one just because you're man is here. Let him see you for who you truly are," the Spanish woman laughed.
By the look on Francine's face, she was quickly regretting bringing her roommates out from hiding but on the other side of the table, Arthur for once was eager to have them there. "Really? Please tell me all about Francine and how responsible she is," Arthur asked, eager to have Francine's own friends turn against her and prove his point that she shouldn't be allowed to take care of the boys.
"Well!" Gretchen eagerly began, grinning at Arthur with a slight malicious glint in her red eyes. "Francine is just as bad as we are. She laughs just as loud and never turns down a dare. Just the other night we dared her to seduce the pizza delivery man. We got that pizza for free!" Gretchen grinned, her eyes shining in delight as she recalled the event.
"Of course a few glasses of wine helped her along," Isabel added smiling at Francine as she threw her under the bus. "And she was the only one to spill red wine on the carpet and stain it."
"Stain it?" Arthur asked, glancing back towards the other room. He hadn't seen any stain. It looked perfect to him.
Gretchen laughed, "Currently it's under the couch. We had to rearrange the entire room this morning to hide it! Francine was so frantic. It was hilarious! Seriously, she's a scream when she's drunk!"
Isabel nodded and sighed, "If only she'd get drunk more often. I remember thinking she was just as drunk as we were on several different occasions, but then the next day she wouldn't have a hangover. Then I'd finally realize that she never had more than one or two drinks. She's so sneaky!"
"Yeah, Francine. You never get smashed with us." Turning to Arthur the albino asked, "Does she get drunk with you?"
Francine interrupted here and said calmly, "No. Arthur is just like you two. He gets pathetically drunk and then needs someone to take care of him. How can I allow myself to lose control when I know no one else will be the voice of reason when the rest of us are drunk?" Francine held her head high. She knew that her friends would tease her and try to make her look bad, but she knew that the real dark secrets she could trust them to keep. Also, she was the mature one and was sure that no matter what they said Francine could play it to her favor.
"Responsible one?" Arthur scoffed, feeling smug that even Francine's own friends agreed with him that she was irresponsible.
"No no," Isabel said, shaking her head, "In that respect, Francine is normally the DD and she's good at it. Not once since we became friends have I gotten drunk and then woken in a ditch, hospital bed, or an ugly man's bed and the number of good looking men's beds that I've woken up in has grown, I think."
"And good looking women's beds too." Gretchen added with a grin.
"Ahh, I would have never met Lorena if not for Francine," Isabel sighed while Gretchen rolled her eyes.
"So you can play matchmaker with your lesbian roommates. Am I supposed to be impressed with this?" Arthur asked as he reached to cut himself another piece of the quiche.
"I can take care of two very rambunctious drunks in crowded bars and clubs with desperate vultures constantly trying to take them away from me (and take me away from them as well). I think that's a valuable talent for a mother to have." She sniffed.
"Oh yes, Mama Francine takes good care of us," Gretchen rolled her eyes and ripped off the heel to the loaf of bread and started gnawing on it.
Isabel's taunts quickly turned on her other roommate and teased, "Well you have to admit, Gretchen, that if it wasn't for Francine you probably wouldn't eat."
Gretchen just grunted as she continued to eat. She wouldn't eat this good that was for sure, but she would still eat, at least on most days she would. "So Arthur," Gretchen asked after a small lull in the conversation, "Do you have a girlfriend? Francine says you won't give her the time of day. What's up with that?"
Arthur gave the girl a stern look before glancing to Francine and then back to Gretchen. "Well Francine has given me nothing but trouble. Is it that surprising that I don't want to have anything to do with her?"
"Then what are you doing here now?" Isabel asked innocently from Arthur's other side. She had cut herself a slice of quiche as well and was eating it with one hand under it to catch the crumbs. Her focus was on her meal instead of Arthur despite having asked the question.
Arthur's glare grew harder as he turned his eyes to the Spanish woman. Before he could answer, Gretchen guessed, "You still like Francine don't you. You're brain says no, but your cock says yes."
Then Isabel quickly added, "Or his heart. You don't have to be so crude all the time, Gretch."
Finally Arthur snapped before any more could be said, "I have no feelings for Francine, romantic or sexual. Thank you very much. I am here only to humor Francine and to prove that she is not fit to be the mother of my children. Then I never want to see her again."
There was a long silence and the women all stared at Arthur, even Francine for a second before she dipped her eyes to look at her plate of food. Arthur didn't shrink from the stares, but did avert his eyes after a moment.
"Ouch," Gretchen gave a low whistle. "Damn, Francine. He's an asshole. Even if you're only doing this for the kids, you have to remember that they're his kids too and might grow up to be just as big of assholes."
Francine answered quickly, setting her utensils down, "Despite Arthur's grumpiness, I am not doing this just for the children." She lifted her eyes to look at Arthur, her gaze intense, "I do like Arthur no matter what you two say although I did desperately hope that you would approve."
There was another uncomfortable silence and then Isabel spoke, "Francine," she began slowly, hesitantly. Then she turned her words towards Gretchen, "I've never seen her so dead set on a man before. I feel like I have to support her."
Gretchen replied as if neither Francine nor Arthur were in the room, "Yeah, but he's an asshole. He's not good for her at all. I don't care how crazy in love she might be, I won't let her get together with someone who'll treat her like crap."
"Maybe that's what gets her off." Isabel shrugged.
"Excuse me, but we are still in the room," Arthur's good mood from the food was already long gone.
"So? You need to hear this too," Gretchen said, her attitude gave off the impression that she thought highly of herself and lowly of Arthur. "Our little Franny is interested in you whether or not you or we like it. Which means that you'll have to pull yourself together and shape up or else you'll have to face us. If you make her cry, if you beat her, if you abuse her, if you do anything to upset her you'll wake up with a horse head in your bed or some shit like that."
Arthur just stared at the crazy albino woman for a few moments trying to figure out if she was being serious or not. He spared a glance at the Spaniard and saw that she looked just as serious. Then Arthur's eyes ventured to look at Francine who was staring at him with a curious look. Arthur's eyes lingered on her for a long moment before he ripped them away and returned them to the albino. "I am not a barbarian. I would never harm her. I gave her everything I had and did my absolute best to take care of her! Why is there never anyone around to worry that perhaps she isn't good for me? Who put a horse head in her bed when she left me without a word?" Arthur's face grew red with anger and he ended up saying more than he wanted. Arthur was then greeted with several stares once again and his face flushed from embarrassment. He was not enjoying being out numbered. When had Francine's friends gone from teasing Francine to supporting her? Was he being tricked? Finally he reigned in his anger and managed to say in a quieter tone, "Lunch was lovely, Francine, I'll give you that much, but everything else wasn't as pleasant." Then he stood to leave.
"Woah, woah, woah! Dude, chill out!" Gretchen said, standing with him and grabbing onto his wrist. "So she did something stupid once. You did too the night you slept with her and knocked her up with twins! Everyone makes mistakes. You can't hold it against her. Just give her a-"
She was cut off as Arthur yanked his wrist out of the albino's grasp, "A second chance? She's already had that. How many second chances am I supposed to give her?"
"How many ever she deserves to get." Gretchen said between clenched teeth. She was able to go toe to toe with Arthur and wasn't about to back down. "If she was living in a shit hole doing drugs and knocked up with yet another bastard's kids then she wouldn't deserve another chance, but I think she's more than proved to you that she deserves one more. I won't let her grovel at your feet any longer!"
"Good! I would appreciate you keeping her out of my hair."
"Oh you might not have Francine in your hair, but you'll have me in your hair until you give her a proper second chance and let me assure you that you don't want me in your hair."
"I can back that statement!" Isabel chimed in randomly with a smile. "Gretchen is a bitch."
Both Gretchen and Arthur cast her a glance and she immediately shut her mouth.
Then Arthur glared at Francine who was frowning deeply at the display. "Is this why you invited me over for lunch? To have your thug friend threaten me?!"
"That's not it!" Francine defended immediately before turning to Gretchen, "And you! Stop threatening him!"
"I'm not threatening him!" Gretchen asserted, a bit of surprise creeping into her voice. She truly hadn't been trying to threaten him and was surprised to hear that they thought she was.
"I have work to do. Francine I'm leaving. I'll show myself out." Arthur growled and started to walk away from the table.
"Wait!" Francine called out quickly. Arthur turned around and raised a bushy brow at her as he crossed his arms over his chest. Francine paused and then said, "At least take the leftovers home with you. It's not as good reheated, but it's still probably better than whatever it was you were going to feed the boys for dinner tonight. You yourself said it would be good for them to eat healthy like this."
Arthur hesitated for a moment and then gave in, nodding his head, "Fine. Do you have something to wrap it up in?"
With a quick nod of her head, Francine stood and cleared the table, bringing the leftovers into the kitchen area and set them on the counter. Then she started rummaging about for some plastic containers to put the leftovers in. While she worked, she called out, "Gretchen. You should apologize."
"Apologize?!" Gretchen croaked. "Why should I? I didn't say anything that I regret. I take nothing back!" She crossed her arms defiantly and Francine paused in her work to shoot her friend a stern look. Finally Gretchen uncrossed her arms and sighed, "I am sorry that I came across as threatening. That at least I wasn't trying to be. Although seriously, I'm worried about Francine and even if you don't like her or don't want her, I don't want you to hurt her, okay? And she does deserve a second chance. I know we teased her pretty bad and things got more than a little out of hand here, but she's really not that bad. Out of all of us she really is the 'Mom' and I think she'd raise a couple of boys well. Think about it. Don't blow her off just 'cuz of me and Isabel."
"And if it means anything to you, Francine really does like you." Isabel added, speaking quietly so that Francine wouldn't over hear as easily. "She's always talking about you and saying how cute you are—although I don't see it at all. But she does see something in you. Her feelings are true."
Arthur blinked in surprise. He had not been expecting being able to have a decent conversation with either of these two girls, but suddenly they were acting rather civil. The sudden change in the atmosphere almost made him feel dizzy. He frowned in puzzlement, but nodded in acknowledgement at their words. He didn't know what to say to them so he simply remained silent.
Soon enough, Francine returned to the table with the food all tucked away neatly in containers and the containers stacked in a plastic bag. "I wish lunch went better. I wanted to hear a yes from you when I offered doing this again some time." She smiled apologetically although Arthur couldn't help but feel that Francine knew exactly what she was doing the entire time. How much of her friends' heartfelt words had been scripted?
"Thank you, Francine. I wish lunch went better as well. As for your offer," he paused and glanced over the group of girls. "Next time I would appreciate not being out numbered and cornered."
Francine's eyes lit up at the response. Next time! "Yes, that was a little rude of me and I apologize. I had simply hoped that my best friends and my lover would be able to get along with one another." She smiled a bit triumphantly as if she had orchestrated this whole scene and that everything had gone exactly according to plan.
Arthur hesitated seeing that smile, but finally sighed and simply picked up the bag of food and walked to the door, thanking Francine once more politely. She followed him out, wishing him a safe trip home. Then the hell was finally over. Arthur let out a pent up breath of air, rubbed his temples, and made his way home.
Once he was finally home, Arthur checked the laundry and then sat down in front of his laptop. He had wasted enough time today and needed to get caught up on his work. He barely moved and didn't break for tea or a quick stretch or anything. He was behind and couldn't afford even the smallest of distractions. Before he knew it, a little over three hours had past and after sparing a single look at the digital clock in the corner of his computer screen, Arthur was shocked to see the time encroaching on five. He was supposed to have picked up the boys from the Vargas's an hour ago! Bolting from the chair, he didn't even pause to save his work before finding his shoes and slipping into them as he raced out the door. After locking up, Arthur pulled out his cell phone to check if he had any missed calls or messages that could have been from the Vargas's, but there was nothing. He frowned. He didn't think that anything was wrong, but why wouldn't they have called him if he was an hour late picking up his children?
It was a short power walk to the neighbor's house and Arthur was knocking on the dark green door within just a few minutes. When it opened, Arthur was greeted once more by the old Mr. Vargas's smiling face. "Hello Arthur. Did you have a good day today?"
"I'm terribly sorry for being late." Arthur panted, his face turning a little red.
The old man shook his head and continued to smile. "No no. It's no problem. I hope that you did more with your day than just work all day, although I suppose it wouldn't hurt to get ahead so that you'll have less work to do next weekend, which is your weekend off. Don't forget. I'm taking care of your boys then too."
"I really couldn't ask you to do so much," Arthur argued feebly.
"Nonsense!" The man boomed, his smile never leaving his face. "I've already let Al and Matt know that they are to come here after school on Friday, so the plans are already made! You wouldn't want to cancel their play date, now would you? They sounded so excited to hear about the sleepover." Mr. Vargas smiled sneakily.
Arthur knew he couldn't win and finally gave in with a sigh, "Alright, but I'll have to return the favor another weekend."
With a wave of a large hand, Old Man Vargas dismissed Arthur's concerns. He was a retired army veteran who lived with his daughter and her family. He loved his grandchildren (and children in general) and loved nothing more than spoiling them rotten. When it was his daughter's turn to host the weekly babysitting he spent the entire day playing with the children. Then when the last child was picked up by their parent, he looked as sad as his grandchildren when they had to say goodbye to their friends after a long day of fun and play. Taking care of the neighborhood kids wasn't a chore for him, but a delight. "I enjoy doing this. It's not a problem at all. A retired old man like me needs something to do with my days while the younger generation is running around working. So don't fret about it." Finally, he stood aside and invited Arthur inside while he called out, "Alfred! Matthew! Your dad is here. It's time to go home. I know you know. Where are you two hiding?"
Alfred's voice floated to the adults from somewhere in the house, "You have to find us!"
Mr. Vargas smiled at the proposed game while Arthur frowned and shifted his weigh from foot to foot. He wasn't the type of person to enjoy lollygagging. He wanted to be in and out but every time he picked up the kids from Mr. Vargas it became an ordeal and the old man only promoted it by playing along. "Come on, boys. It's time to go home." Arthur called out.
Grandpa Vargas glanced at Arthur and his face fell for a moment. Despite the actuality, Arthur was acting like the older one while the old man was acting like a child. "I'll get them," he murmured, a little embarrassed at being out matured. Then he lumbered off down the hallway while Arthur waited. Only a moment later came the high pitched sound of children laughing and the deep boom of the old man's laughter. The next moment, Alfred and Matthew came running into view screaming and laughing. When they saw Arthur they both charged him and then latched onto each of his legs, hugging him happily and babbling about their day. Close on their heels were the Vargas boys. They looked to be twins as well, but were actually separated by a year with the younger one being the same age as Alfred and Matthew. They strongly resembled their grandfather and each had a smile that was almost an exact duplicate. Upon seeing Arthur the older of the two Vargas boys, Lovino, stopped and frowned while the younger, Feliciano, continued following Alfred and Matthew and also found a spot to hold on to Arthur's pants.
"Woah, I think you've got one too many there, Arthur!" Mr. Vargas laughed as he appeared after the children. He walked over and lifted little Feliciano up and held him in his arms. Then he asked the boy, "Did you want to go live with Alfred and Matthew? Is that it? You don't like living here anymore?" The old man frowned, pretending to be upset. "Do you not like me or your brother anymore?"
"No no! I love you, Grandpa. And Lovi too!" The young boy said frantically, not wanting to upset his grandfather or brother.
"Then prove it," Grandpa Vargas said, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "How do you show someone you love them?" At the prompt, Feliciano kissed his grandfather on the cheek after which the old man burst into a large smile and kissed his grandson on the cheek in return. Then he set the boy down and told him, "Now don't forget your brother. Go let him know that you love him too." Feliciano nodded to the old man and then ran towards his brother, arms outstretched.
Seeing his brother charging him, Lovino's eyes grew wide and he shook his head, "No! Feliciano, no! Don't kiss me! Feliciano!" He spoke in a warning tone, but when it looked like his younger brother wasn't going to listen, he turned tail and ran.
Meanwhile, Arthur was trying to peel his own children off his legs, but they were being stubborn. "Alfred, Matthew." Arthur said sternly, but they paid him no heed and continued to giggle. Arthur tried walking, but they had long since grown too big for him to be able to move around. "Come on boys. Play time is over. It's time to go home. You have a special dinner tonight."
That got their attentions, the little gluttons. "A special dinner? Are we having hamburgers?!" Alfred asked, his eyes growing wide.
Not about to lose the hold he had, Arthur just chuckled and dodged, "You'll have to wait and see when we get home." That worked just as Arthur had wanted it to. The boys quickly climbed off Arthur's legs and started tugging at his arms, pulling him towards the door, eager to get home and find out what this 'special dinner' was. Arthur chuckled and then bid farewell to Mr. Vargas who was smiling and laughing after his own boys. He flashed the Kirkland family a quick goodbye and then chased after Feliciano and Lovino happily.
After a short walk, Arthur and the boys returned home. Curious as to what dinner was, Alfred and Matthew followed Arthur into the kitchen and peered curiously at the bag of leftovers Arthur pulled from the fridge. They had never seen quiche before and stared at the pie-looking treat with wonder as Arthur put it into the microwave. Then Arthur took out the tossed salad and both boys wrinkled their noses at the greens. Arthur chuckled and said, "Just try it. It'll be better than the normal salads, I promise." Then the table was set and the food dished out.
Alfred and Matthew both eagerly bit into the quiche and equally as eagerly spat it back out. "What kind of pie is this?" Alfred complained.
Arthur laughed. He knew what a quiche was and that it wasn't a pie, but he should have known to warn the boys before serving them something round and deep. "It's not a pie. It's a quiche. There's cheese and bacon in it."
"Bacon?" Alfred asked, eyeing the not-pie skeptically.
"Yes, you like bacon don't you, Alfred?" Arthur asked as he ate his own piece. Francine had been right. It wasn't as good as it had been earlier, but it was still better than any microwave meal they could have eaten.
"Yes…" Alfred admitted slowly and he sniffed at a forkful of quiche before trying it again.
"Isn't it tasty?" Arthur suggested.
Alfred scrunched up his face and Arthur was afraid that he'd spit the food out again, but then the boy swallowed. "It is. I like keys." He mispronounced the French word and Arthur laughed.
Turning his attention to his other son, Arthur asked, "Matthew, do you like it?"
The younger boy smiled happily and Arthur was surprised to see that Matthew had already eaten half of his piece. "I love it!" He proclaimed.
Arthur smiled, relieved. Francine got points for this one. The salad didn't go over as well and Alfred picked up an unfamiliar green leafy thing and started playing with it. "Look I'm a giraffe!" Alfred proclaimed and stuck out his tongue trying to eat the leaf like he had seen giraffes do on TV. Arthur chuckled good-humoredly. As long as Alfred ate it, he didn't mind how he did it. Another thing Arthur noticed was that the boys were more likely to eat salads that had croutons and slivers of carrots in them. They also liked whatever dressing Francine had used. Over all, it was a lot easier to feed the boys this salad than it normally was for Arthur, but still a hassle. Then there was the bread which ended up getting slathered with I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spread and eaten with zeal.
The rest of the leftovers were finished off and then the small family did the dishes together and cleaned up the kitchen. Once the chores were completed, the boys went to their room to play and Arthur set up his laptop again and continued his work tiredly. Unlike earlier, there were several distractions, and Arthur allowed himself to take a few breaks to stand and stretch and make himself a cup of tea. Once Alfred and Matthew came out of their room to show Arthur Lego creations they had built. Alfred made a plane and Matthew made a car. Later the boys wandered into the family room and watched cartoons.
Soon enough it was time for bed and Arthur tucked the boys in (after some protesting on their end) and told them another bedtime story. Tonight he wove a story about wizards and evil sorcerers and an epic battle between good and evil. He randomly threw in a helpful old witch and a talking squirrel (which was later turned into a bald eagle at Alfred's request). The wizards had to travel across the lands, battling ghosts and goblins and were about to face the ultimate opponent when the last sleepy eyelid closed and did not reopen again. Arthur kissed them both on their brows, made sure that they were covered with their blankets, and then turned out the lights.
Then Arthur continued with his routine, cleaning up a little and trying desperately to catch up on his work. He worked past midnight tonight before he finally shut his laptop and sleepily crawled into his own bed, falling asleep soon after.
Author's note: The nyotalia names Gretchen and Lorena I borrowed from Kanki Youji.