Bloody adorable vibes in this chapter. Got really inspired and grinned throughout the whole thing.
Chapters 22, 23 and 24 have been posted together. Three chapters for you guys!
It's quite cold in San Francisco. Francis has never been here and Mary's been a couple or so times. They're wandering the streets, trying to find a good date spot with good food and good music, anything to drone out the noises they heard throughout the night that they just knew came from Bash and Kenna's room.
They'll leave tomorrow, life doesn't wait or stop for them and Mary tightens her hold on Francis's arm. He squeezes her hand in reply, turning to her in concern.
"What's up?"
Mary laughs. "Nothing. Just thinking about how fast-paced life is," she tells him. "We went from being fake lovers to a real-arse couple."
He grins. "Is that so bad?"
"No, I love it," she replies. "I feel safe with you, even if the train of Frary is going a thousand miles per hour."
Francis stops them, cupping her cheeks and kissing her on the lips softly. "I'm glad you feel safe with me," he says, resting his forehead against hers as her hands rest on his hips. "I don't know, I feel really happy to be with you too. You're different, better. Healthier, I guess."
Mary smiles warmly. "Healthier?"
"Yeah, my previous relationships have been questionable," he says with a self-deprecating chuckle. "You're the first one my parents have swooned over."
"Glad to know," Mary tells him brightly. She kisses him once more and they continue on, finding a family-owned Italian restaurant and she turns to him in excitement. "I better get used to you being half-Italian."
Francis grins, opening the door for her as she steps through. They head to the counter and smile at the middle-aged woman who looks up at them. "Buon pomeriggio. Tavolo per due, per favore." (1)
The woman beams, her eyes sparkling at Mary's way. "You're lucky," she tells her, rounding the counter to lead them to a romantic table for two at the back for privacy. She hands them two menus, explaining she'll return with a complimentary bottle of champagne.
"All I had to do was speak Italian. I told you I had charm," he tells Mary, making her giggle.
"It's not exactly charm based. You are half-Italian," she replies.
Francis chuckles, playfully rolling his eyes. "Well, I don't look like it. People say I look 'too French', whatever that means," he tells her, waving his hand dismissively. "Said I wasn't 'tan enough'. Even my Nonna said I ought to spend more time under the Italian sun to break that side in."
Mary cackles, shaking her head in amusement. "I love Nonna de Medici."
"I'll introduce you to her and Nonno some time," Francis promises. "I miss them."
She reaches over for his hand. "Can't wait to meet them," she says before scanning the menu. "I want to be cheesy."
"In what way?"
"I want a small pizza, a bowl of spaghetti and bruschetta for starters," she informs him. "They have American options but I want the whole experience." Then she clicks her tongue. "And tiramisu for dessert."
Francis culls over the woman. "Then I'll have what you're having," he replies, turning to give the woman a wide smile. "We'd like-"
"I heard," she cuts him off with a smile, writing their order down as a man places the champagne bucket onto the edge of the table and taking the bottle to fill their flutes up. "Let me guess, you're Italian and you're giving your girlfriend the full experience?"
Francis blushes. "How did you guess?"
"Your accent," the woman starts, her own thick one shining through. "You sound native but slightly. Let me guess, the maternal side is Italian and paternal is another part of Europe?"
Francis nods. "Correct. I'm French, born and raised but live in England with my lovely girlfriend," he says, kissing the back of Mary's hand.
"And you, cara?" The woman asks Mary with a smile.
"Half-French, half-Scottish," Mary says with a deep blush.
"And so beautiful," the woman states. "God, you make for a beautiful couple. Your Italian ancestors are beaming down on you."
Francis laughs, making Mary blush even more. "She's not so bad," he jests, giving her a wink.
"We will get your meal to you very soon," the man tells them. "Enjoy the champagne."
When they are left alone, Mary covers her face. "God, I feel so awkward!"
"Why?"
"They're really sweet..." Mary mumbles shyly. "At least it's not a diehard fan threatening one of us to get the other."
Francis snorts, sipping his drink. "I'd take these people any day."
"Same," Mary replies happily.
...
"...I never asked anyone to get rid of a spider for me after that!"
Mary laughs, almost sputtering her caramel milkshake out of her lips as the now named Constantina collects their empty plates in amusement. "Bash is so evil."
"He really is," Francis replies, slurping up his milkshake. "I recall him calling Kenna a 'sadist'. Pot meet kettle."
"How could he do that to you?!" Mary cries out, laughing. "You were four!"
Francis pouts. "I know. He wanted me to get over my fear of spiders. And I did after wetting the bed for a year or so and facing the spiders head-on."
Mary chuckles, running her fingers down her hair. "Oh, poor you! If you need any spiders to be taken away, I'm your woman."
"Mary!" Francis says indignantly. "I can get rid of my own spiders now! And we have Aspen so that's a bonus. I just lift her into the ceiling and she does all the work."
"Francis! Does she eat them?"
"Nah, she just wafts them away and I place her outside to hose her down," Francis replies. "To make sure there are no spiders left on her. She thinks they're friends!"
Mary grins, drinking her milkshake happily. "Good."
"So any childhood stories?"
"There was one time my brother cut all my hair off."
"What?!"
Mary laughs, placing her drink down. "Yeah, so I was about eleven and he was eighteen," she starts. "And his girlfriend back then was training to be a hairdresser so one day, I got sick of my long hair and told him to cut a little bit off since his girlfriend taught him some new stuff with her own hair that she used for experimenting colours and styles on and... Well, I ended up using extensions for a good two years until my hair grew back."
Francis covers his face. "No!"
"Yeah!" She says, shaking her head in amusement. "He thought it didn't look even enough so he kept going, cutting and trimming until it ended up being a pixie cut. Mum was so mad but it eventually grew on me."
"Your hair's beautiful now," he starts. "But I'd like to have seen pixie cut Mary."
"I even had a blonde phase," Mary informs him.
Francis raises his brows. "Sexy..."
"Says you, the blonde!" She takes a sip from her wine now. "I really enjoyed this."
Francis nods, reaching to take her hand in his. "We don't do this often enough. We should."
"We really should."
She looks around at the other customers, enjoying and celebrating. It's a nice, warm, family-friendly restaurant and she feels at home. Especially as she's with Francis and nothing can ruin her day even if the worst thing happened with him around.
"Francis?"
Francis looks at her, rubbing the back of her hand in circles. "Yes?"
She uses her other hand to undo her necklace single-handedly, retrieving a ring from the chain. It's a male's ring, her late father's and recently, she's taken to wearing it. Especially after her birthday which had her thinking more about him than not as he died six days after she and Kenna were born.
She presents it to Francis.
"My father's ring. He got it from a dear friend of his who died of cancer," she starts, twirling the band between her fingers. "He never once took it off until he..." She swallows hard. "I'd like you to wear it. As a good luck charm of some sort and..." Should I really do this? The timing's perfect, the venue's stunning and homey... "As a promise ring."
Francis's eyes widen a little. "A promise ring?"
"To marry each other in the future," she manages to get out, her voice breaking as tears clog up her throat.
Francis's eyes water too and he slips the ring onto his right ring finger, showing her it with a flourish hand movement. "I accept."
She laughs in disbelief, coming around to hug him tightly and soon everyone's applauding, making them blush. "We're not engaged," she tells them.
"We know," an elderly woman says, holding her partner's hand. "But we know an everlasting love when we see one."
Francis stares at Mary as she looks at the elderly couple with a grin. She's the most beautiful person he's ever seen, his love for her undying and limitless. He loves her and his mind starts gearing up for the perfect time for a proposal. He'll make this promise ring a real thing.
"Thank you," he tells the other couple before sharing a sweet kiss with his girlfriend.
"You may reach eighty years together as we did," the old man adds, pressing a kiss onto his wife's cheek.
That makes the younger couple even happier as they smile against each other's lips.
(1) "Good afternoon. Table for two, please."