"I want to take James to see his grandmother," Darnley tells her as soon as she answers the door. He's rather stern about it, firm like she can't say no. His mother lives out of state, hours away, and she doesn't like Mary; she never has.
She used to say that James was the only good thing Mary ever did.
She steps aside so he can come in and he looks around at the framed pictures of their son on the walls, old family photos. Maybe even looks disappointed to see that he isn't in them.
"I'm gonna have to say no." She informs him as she picks up the pile of mail on the table by the door, skimming the envelopes and not looking at her soon to be ex-husband.
"Why?"
"Syphilis." She hums. It was years ago now, Darnley slept with some girl he met at a bar, came home with an STD, slept with Mary and they both got it. He had no choice but to come clean about the multiple affairs he had, but he didn't miss a beat in making sure that Mary knew it was her fault.
If she had just shown interest in their intimacy he wouldn't have gone in search of others to fill that role.
And of course, Mary took her blame and tried to make it work. Until she caught him in bed with some Kiera girl, who he had been sleeping with for years behind her back. Now here they are.
Darnley scoffs, "When are you going to let that go?"
"When it no longer bothers me."
"Mary-"
"I'm not letting you take our son over state lines, hours away." She says as she tosses her mail down and turns to look at him. Darnley has always been handsome, with his brown curls and strong jaw, long lashes and plump lips.
Francis' blue eyes really ruin other people's eyes, huh? She shakes her head to get rid of that thought, but she agrees.
The brown of Darnley's pale in comparison to Francis' blue.
"Then come with us." He suggests quickly and she squints at him, confused. Until a horrifying realization crashes into her.
"Your mother doesn't know about the divorce, does she?" She asks slowly and arches a brow when he scoffs again and looks at the floor with a swallow, "Darnley."
"Okay." He says quickly, "I haven't had the chance to...tell her is all."
"You've had plenty of time to plan a family road trip." She folds her arms over her chest as she shakes her head.
"Look-"
"The answer is no."
"If I want to spend time with my son I shouldn't have to ask permission." He snaps it at her, angry now that she has continued to say no.
"And you can do so, but you're not taking him that far away from me."
"Mary-"
"No." She says again, "And that's the final answer." He runs a hand through his hair, it's messy like he has been doing that all day. She used to like the mess, she used to run her fingers through the soft and dark tresses the way he liked.
"My mother wants to see him."
"Lynn can visit." She says, she's done it before, she doesn't see why she can't now.
"Mary."
"What?"
"Thought we were supposed to be civil." He says softly and he's right. But he's also the one who hasn't been civil since she came to him with the prospect of getting a divorce. He's made everything as difficult as he can possibly make it, right down to who gets the curtains from the house. Which she never cared about, honestly, he probably didn't either but the man loves to yell at her.
"Two days." He says, "On a weekend so he doesn't miss school and I will let him call you every hour."
"Darnley."
"Please?" He begs as he grabs her hands, "Just a weekend. And I promise I will use that time to tell my mother about the divorce." She will surely rejoice when she finds out Mary is out of her son's life.
She rolls her eyes, sighs heavily, he isn't going to stop until she says yes.
"Fine." She says finally, "One weekend. And I want to talk to him every few hours Darnley, I mean it." Besides, a road trip with his father might be good for James. Maybe it will cheer him up after the hellish few months they all had.
-/-
"Mary?" She recognizes the voice as she pushes her cart through the cereal aisle and turns in time to see Lola is walking over to her with John in tow.
"Uh. Yeah?" She questions as she turns and Lola stands awkwardly where she is in the middle of the aisle, a basket of things on her arm as she tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Lola." She greets softly, remembering how the girl was less than friendly upon their first meeting.
"I..." she starts, "I wanted to apologize about the other day...at the school." She says awkwardly and Mary nods.
"It's...it's fine, Lola." She says slowly as she watches James start to interact with John. It seems their...scuffle has been forgotten about and they're becoming fast friends.
"No, it isn't."
"Okay, it isn't." She says softly. "Look, I get it. You were angry about what happened, I was to-"
"But that didn't give me the right to say what I said." She seems to feel genuinely sorry for it, maybe kicking herself mentally for having said it in the first place, so Mary nods as she moves her cart to the side so other shoppers can get through.
"Well, thank you for apologizing. I'm sure it wasn't easy..." Lola looks over at their kids, who are engaged in conversation. Mary realizes that James doesn't have a lot of friends and she thinks Lola thinks the same thing about John because before she knows it, Lola is digging through her purse and pulling out a pen and jotting something down on an old receipt.
"Um," She finishes and hands it over, "Here is my number. I was thinking maybe James would like to come over and have a playdate with John or something?" She suggests slowly and Mary smiles a small smile as she takes the paper.
"That...that would be nice." She says as she folds it up and sticks it in her pocket.
"Hey Mary, they're out of-" Kenna stops as she turns the corner, squinting at Lola as she joins them, "Who is this?"
"Lola." She greets softly.
"Oh, You're Francis' baby mama," Kenna says as it comes back to her and Mary is the one squinting. She didn't know the girl knew Francis. She never brought up knowing her kids' teacher before.
"Uh...I...am." she says slowly with a breath of a laugh, "Do you know him?"
"Oh, I'm dating his brother." She says with a wave of her hand, "Half brother."
"Bash?"
"Wait." Mary says quickly, "I didn't know you were...dating James' teachers half brother?"
"Probably because that's a mouthful." Kenna jokes, "You never asked."
"Bash and Francis are related?"
"Yeah?" Kenna makes a face. She knew Bash had a big family, she just didn't realize he was related to Francis. Mary nods slowly, "Anyways. It's nice to finally meet you." Kenna smiles at Lola, and she shakes her hand.
"Auntie Kenna?" John questions before running over to give her a hug.
"The one and ooonnnllyyy!" She smiles as she swoops down to hug his tiny frame.
"He talks about you all the time." Lola smiles as she brushes the boys' blonde curls back. "I should get going." She says after a second of silence, "Call me, Mary?"
"Sure." She says as Lola takes her son's hand and starts to lead him away from them.
"She seems nice," Kenna comments as she grabs James' hand and they start to walk. Mary is just trying her hardest to wrap her brain around this new development. Francis and Bash are related? She's known Bash pretty much her entire life, why have they never met until now? And why would Kenna be hiding Francis from her? Something like that should be shared.
"You've been dating Bash for years."
"Yep," Kenna says as they walk.
"And you never thought to tell me about Francis?"
"Why would I?" She asks, "Listen, I've only met him a few times."
"You seem to have a good relationship with John."
"He's a good kid." She smiles fondly, "He stays with Bash sometimes when Lola is out of town and Francis has to get some extra work done or something."
"So, Bash's brother is my kids' teacher?"
"I guess."
"Small world."
"Indeed."
-/-
Later that night, she digs Lola's number out of her pocket and dials it. She doesn't answer right away but after the third ring, Mary's ear is greeted with her voice.
"Hello?"
"Lola?" She questions softly, "It's Mary. You gave me your number earlier."
"Oh hey!" She says it excitedly as she shifts in her seat. She can hear the soft hum of the television in the back.
"I know it's kind of late-"
"Oh, that's alright." She tells her, "I just put John to bed."
"Me too." She says softly, "James, I mean."
"I figured that," Lola says with a soft laugh and then it's quiet and Mary drums her fingers on her thigh. "So you know Bash." She inquires after a few seconds of silence and Mary nods.
"Yeah."
"He's never mentioned you."
"He's never mentioned you." She says it back. Or Francis. Or even John. She wonders why that was, though as she thinks about it he did sometimes mention his nephew in passing but she was always too wrapped up in what Darnley was doing and trying to keep her marriage from crumbling to really ask. He doesn't talk about his family much and maybe it's because it would be too much to unpack in a simple conversation.
"Kenna seems nice. John really likes her, she's good with him." Kenna is an only child, a child with a wild streak. She can often be found making scenes or bar hopping, but she has a maternal side that Mary wasn't expecting from her. She's good with James too and has always been able to see his side of things. There's a childlike wonder to Kenna that doesn't show itself often, and on rare occasions, she can be quite serious.
"So, Francis and Bash." She says softly; She's surprised she didn't catch it. But she supposes they don't look much alike; honestly, they're complete opposites, aside from the eyes; which are the same crystal blue. "Half brothers?"
"Hm. Yeah." Lola sighs, "Their father is kind of...he gets around."
"Same dad but different moms?" She doesn't know why she's asking, it isn't her business but here she is, asking.
"Bash was the result of a long affair." She tells her anyway, even though it isn't her business and she could just ask Bash if she really wanted to. "Francis came after." Lola says on a sigh, "That's really all I know, you'd have to ask one of them."
"I don't think they'd tell me." Mary hums. She can't really ask Francis on the account that she doesn't know him, not well enough to question his family tree at least and she isn't sure Bash would want to dive into that. Or if she could stand him questioning her sudden need to know his family history.
"Francis can be quite open," Lola says softly.
"You had a child with him, it'd be rude for him not to be open with you."
"I guess." She says, "So. Francis."
"...Yup?"
"That was quite a meeting the other day," Lola says that in a teasing tone and Mary straightens.
"What?"
"Mary, if the walls could talk they would have been singing," Lola says dryly like she knows something she doesn't. She rolls her eyes. "Also the way he laid into me after you left all but confirmed my suspicions."
"I...don't know what you mean." The blush that spreads on her face says otherwise, but Lola can't see it so she mentally rejoices.
"He likes you!"
"What? No."
"You walked in, your eyes met, boom romcom."
"It...I don't-"
"Okayokayokay." She says quickly, "Maybe you were too angry with me to see it, but I saw it, okay sparks were flying and it was beautiful and I can't wait to talk about this precise conversation at your wedding." The statement makes Mary laugh more than she should, mostly about the absurdity of this. They had one- no, two- two conversations and one had to do with him stopping her from slapping Lola. That doesn't really scream the works of a bestselling romance novel.
So she says the only thing she can think of to stop the butterflies in her stomach.
"I'm married."
"Nooooo!" She whines, "Get unmarried."
"Lola..." she giggles, she doesn't think this is the time to tell her that she is doing precisely that. She just leans back with her wine glass and tries not to think about how she said that Francis likes her. "He is pretty." That comes out without her consent and she cringes.
"Francis, Mary thinks you're pretty!" She hears Lola's shout and her soul leaps from her body.
"STOPPPP!" She hisses and she hears Lola's soft laugh.
"He's not really here." She says after a second, "I won't tell him your secret."
"Oh my god." She whines softly and she wants to hang up but she doesn't. She hasn't had a decent conversation in so long and Lola has already made her laugh a few times tonight. It's strange, only a few days ago she wanted to run the girl down with her car and now they're giggling to each other like high schoolers gossiping about the cute boy on the football team.
"James and John have been hitting it off," Lola says after a while, seemingly dropping the Francis thing. "Even after their uh...fight."
"Never did find out who started that."
"John won't talk about it either."
"Maybe it's better left unsaid," Mary says softly, she would like to know though, and while she can't see James being the aggressor, she can't roll out that this divorce has been pretty hard on him.
"Oh!" Lola gasps, "What is he doing this weekend?"
"Visiting his grandmother. He hasn't visited her in a while." She says softly, she just remembered. She'll have to remind herself to make him pack tomorrow since they're leaving right after school.
"Oh. Well, maybe they could get together next weekend. What if we do something?"
"Like...like what?"
"I don't know, go out, have some drinks. Something fun."
"Are you asking me on a date?"
"Hm." She hums, "I'll ask my fiance if he's cool with a third and then I'll let you know."
"Uuuuuh-"
"A joke." She clarifies, "No but seriously. I owe you after the...bitch I was before."
"Yeah...okay, sounds fun." She agrees softly and Lola tells her she'll call again sometime tomorrow to plan some more and then the line goes dead.
-/-
She's going to meet Lola for drinks at a bar she frequents with her fiance, Julien, and she even suggested Mary bring some of her friends along if she'd like. Which is how she ropes Greer, Aylee, and Kenna into it. She takes James to school that morning for Darnley to pick up after and then he'll be away until Sunday night.
She finds she's actually excited about what tonight could be. She hasn't had a night out in so long, not since she had James. It'll be fun. And Lola seems nice, forgetting what happened at the school the other day, she thinks she could become a good friend to her.
She doesn't recognize the number that pops up on her phone screen as she's getting ready and, honestly. She should have known.
"Hello?"
"Mary, this is Francis." He says when she answers and she makes a face, "I got your number off some old paperwork."
"Okay..."
"Um, listen it's really none of my business but James was really excited today about doing something with his father this weekend and it's my understanding that it was his turn to pick him up?"
"...Uh-huh..."
"I've waited as long as I can-"
"Oh my god, he didn't..."
"No..." He sighs, "He didn't come..." She looks at the clock and sees it's nearing five-thirty and school lets out at two, maybe three if you add in the usual pick up time.
"Is James okay?" She asks softly, trying to swallow the sea of emotions that are flooding her. She's heartbroken for James, but so very, very pissed at Darnley.
"He...seems okay. It's hard to tell with children." Francis says softly, "I've been trying to get ahold of Darnley but he isn't answering." Of course, he isn't. "I'm hoping it's just...car trouble or something." Something about his voice tells her that he's familiar with this type of thing. She wonders how many children he's had to comfort when their parents failed to pick them up.
"I'm on my way." She says. As she gets in her car, she calls Lola to tell her that she can't make it but that Kenna and the others can still meet her at the bar. She doesn't see why she has to completely cancel her plans just because Mary won't be able to go. She understands and that seems to be the end of that.
-/-
The halls are darker than when she was last here, signifying that it's late even for teachers to still be here. The other doors are shut and inside is dark, but the light pours into the dim hallway from under the crack in his door. She walks in to find James is putting together a puzzle with John.
"Hey." Francis greets softly as he walks over to her and she smiles a small smile as her greeting, afraid she'll snap at him despite the fact he would be undeserving of it. "I gave him something to eat, John has been keeping him company. He's quiet."
"He gets quiet when he's upset." James doesn't wear his emotions on his sleeve, he's like Mary that way. He's calm until he can't be calm anymore. "Thank you for staying with him. I know you probably had plans with John."
"Don't worry about it, John is used to having to stay here with me from time to time." He says and then he's quiet for a second before he asks his next question. "I don't mean to pry, but...does Darnley do this a lot?" He asks it softly and while Darnley has done this before, she has to be careful with how she words this because Francis is a mandated reporter and Darnley's inability to pick up James coupled with Mary's work schedule could cause more trouble and misunderstanding.
"No..." she says softly, "I mean...when I first left him he could be a little flakey but I thought that was just because the separation thing was so new..." she shakes her head, "He's been good...better than I thought he would be." She could say a lot about Darnley, she could make a damning list of all of his faults but she would never put down, Bad father, because he isn't.
He's just stupid sometimes.
Francis is looking at her like he gets it and she wonders if maybe he gets it because his father wasn't a good one. Maybe he did the same thing to him as a kid but she can't assume, she's going off what Lola told her last night.
Francis just nods and gives her a reassuring smile.
One that makes her stomach dance but she mentally shakes off the feeling.
"James," Mary says sweetly as she walks to where he is, still putting the puzzle together with John in a corner of this small classroom.
"Where's dad?" He asks without looking up and she gives him a small smile as she tucks a strand of her own hair behind her ear.
"You know, he isn't feeling well." She explains softly, "He said he'll take you to see Granny Lynn next weekend."
"Oh..." he seems sad at that, but he doesn't look up from the puzzle, he just fidgets with the piece still in his hand.
"But we can have fun this weekend, yeah? Whatever you want to do." She smiles, "Can you get your stuff for me? We can go home and-"
"Okay," James says softly before he stands up. He doesn't say anything else as he goes over to his cubby to grab his backpack and coat and then she's walking back towards the door.
"Does this happen often?" She asks softly and Francis shrugs.
"From time to time." He tells her honestly, "Once, I had this student whose mother would constantly just leave her here, I ended up having to call CPS. Turns out she wasn't even supposed to have custody of her."
"Oh..."
"Yeah..." he sighs. "But um...life happens, Darnley has never done this before so don't worry about...CPS."
"Okay." James has returned to her side, fingers sliding into her own and she smiles as she squeezes her son's hand.
"Have a good night, Mary." Francis says with a small smile, "And you, have an even better weekend." It's directed at James and the smile is lighter, easier, and it makes her chest tighten a little at the sight.
His face really is a national treasure.
"Um. Thanks again." Mary says quickly before she turns to the door and says goodbye.
A/N: This is literally all I have at the moment. Suggestions are welcome. :)