"Right, I've walked Luna, replaced her pee training mat and fed her," Francis says before washing his hands and grabbing his suitcase. "Now, I've got to catch my flight."
Mary steps over to him and wraps her arms around his waist with a pout. "I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you too," he replies, kissing her pout away.
"Call me when you get there," she tells him. "And when you get to your grandparents'."
"I will," he promises. It's almost six in the morning, the kids will be up soon so he heads upstairs to check in on them with Mary behind him. "I'll be a few days. If anything happens, text me."
Mary nods and sees him outside to his Uber. She kisses him once more before he gets inside the car and it drives away. She's still quite tired but since her alarm will go off in five to ten minutes anyway, she starts making English Breakfast for the kids, deciding on a hearty meal instead of cereal this morning since she's up.
By seven, she gets the kids up, bathed, teeth brushed and dressed. Breakfast is quiet since they seem to be missing Francis already so Mary makes sure to put the brownies she got from the bakery the day before in their packed lunches. It's a little treat to make them smile and she leaves the lunches on the edge of the island so she can grab them when they go.
"When's Papa coming back?" Anne asks.
"In a few days. He's gone to see your great-grandparents, they're poorly," Mary says, deciding that telling the kids they have a secret uncle isn't the best thing to do as they're close with all of their parents' siblings and would naturally like to get to know another. But what if this one is dead or doesn't want to be involved with them?
"Oh, no! Poorly?" Rose asks, eyes wide.
Mary nods. "Yes, so Papa went to make them all better," she replies, gently patting Rose's cheek before fixing up the girl's hair as she eats her scrambled eggs.
Mary's learnt the hard way of doing her daughters' hairs. Always do it when they're distracted as they hate sitting down for minutes on end and hate people touching their hair overall. Her kids are strange but she loves them and kind of hopes the next one is a boy.
For James's sake of course.
...And maybe not having to go through the torture of doing another girl's hair with complaints.
"Right, school time!" Mary sings, taking Rose from her chair and onto the ground as the older kids go and grab their school bags.
"Mama?" James says, heading back to her with a letter he retrieved from his bag. "It's for you."
Quickly scanning it, Mary sighs and tuts at her son. "You couldn't have given this to us when you got it first?"
James smiles meekly. "I forgot."
Mary eyes him warily. A school trip to the Louvre in two days time and you forget, you cheeky little... You're lucky you look like your father right now with that meek smile and mischief in your eyes when you know you've been caught out, she thinks lightly with a roll of her eyes.
"Right," Mary breathes out. "Fifteen euros to pay for the coach to take you to the Louvre. And fifteen more euros to enter the place. Wait, there are no discounts for children?"
"Nope," James says.
"I'm pretty sure it doesn't cost anything for kids, James Pierre. Papa and I have been many times," Mary says, digging into her bag for her purse.
James sighs. "I want to buy a souvenir..."
Mary tilts her head, retrieving her purse. "There we go," she says, tutting three times. "Here. Here are fifteen for the coach and twenty for the gift store. Look after it and give your wallet to your teacher so she can look after it."
"Yes, Maman!" James says happily before carefully getting his Paw Patrol wallet from his bag and putting the money in separate slots. "Thank you very much!"
Mary laughs softly. Only James can get money out of her. He and Francis would probably make a court case out of it with both sides giving evidence as to why the money deserves to be given or not. Ultimately, her husband is left with a lighter wallet each time.
"Right, come on. Or we'll be late."
...
"Thanks for picking them up," Mary says when she sees Kenna herd the kids into her office, the triplets in their pushchair. "I didn't know I'd take non-bookings. It's an emergency. A major car crash happened and the hospital diverted people with shock over here since I signed up for that government scheme for emergency therapy. I have twelve people with panic attacks waiting."
Kenna smiles. "You're such a good person, Mary," she says kindly. "I got them all food and I changed Rose's pull-ups."
Mary sighs in relief. "Thank you so much. I'll have them in the staffroom. We have a TV there and I made sure it has Netflix so..."
"I'm going to let you get back to work," Kenna says, turning to her daughter. "Come on, darling. You've got your homework-"
"I want to stay with Anne!" Ana cries out.
"Anastasia, we're going," Kenna says firmly, nudging her head towards the door.
Ana groans loudly, leaving Anne's side. "You're so boring!"
Mary bites her lip nervously as she senses that Kenna's probably going to lose it. So she says, "Hey, why don't you all go to the staffroom and do your homework? Maybe Anne can even help Ana. Kenna, there are some things I need to talk to you about anyway and since you're here and I have about three more people to see... I shouldn't be too long and we can head to ours."
Kenna sends her daughter a glare before shooing the kids back out as Mary steps out to invite her next client in. Pushing what just happened to the back of her mind, she coaches her client through breathing steps, encouraging them to talk about what happened while it's still fresh in their mind.
...
Two Years Ago
"Francis, hurry up!"
"Mary, I'm already going a little over the speed limit. I can get a ticket!" Francis cries out desperately as she whines and groans and sobs. "I know, baby, just a few more min-"
"Francis, hurry the fuck up. This baby wants to come out now," Mary grits out, holding the handle above her head tightly. "Oh, God, why did I let you get me pregnant again? Why do I forget the pain?!"
Francis laughs now. "Sweetheart, that pain is good pain. Means this will be an easy delivery."
"You're not a midwife!" Mary snaps.
"Trust me, after two kids, you learn a couple of things," he replies with a smirk. "Who knew a woman's vagina could be so-"
"You. Are. Not. Helping," Mary grits out, almost punching his pretty face. "You're so lucky you're sexy and I really want to have sex with you but this baby's tearing my downstairs apart because you're pissing me off!"
Flattered, Francis grins now and taps his fingers against the steering wheel. "Oh, baby you know how to turn a guy on."
"Your seat's soaking wet, sorry..." She mumbles, feeling underneath her dress.
It was so unexpected. They'd gone to see Leeza and Philip and their girls as Bella and Kitty had turned two but waited until Tuesday to invite everyone after the kids were home from nursery and school due to work on the weekend. They had left the kids with Catherine, deciding to have one more night of passion before the baby got here but suddenly, her waters broke and they were too far away from Catherine's home so had to divert to the hospital.
"It's okay. Going to take it to the car wash tomorrow anyway," Francis replies, giving her a quick comforting smile when he sees that she feels genuinely guilty about her waters breaking all over his plush seats. He's not changed his car since he got it after his father's death and Mary promises herself to buy him a new car when she can afford it.
"I don't even have my hospital bag!" Mary sobs.
"I'll call Claude to bring it over, it's fine," Francis replies.
"You did this to me!"
"I know, and I'm proud of it."
"Fuck you," Mary laughs, cupping his cheek blindly.
It's so late, it's a Tuesday and Mary can't wait to get this baby out of her. She breathes through the pain, pulling faces which Francis teases her about to lighten the mood. But after she almost grabs his neck, he stops and apologises multiple times with smiles laced underneath them.
"You're so beautiful when you cuss me out," Francis muses. "And when you want to strangle me. But I thought you'd at least wait until we were in bed-"
"Francois Simon Valois-"
"I'm sorry!"
She curses in French before whimpering and eventually relaxing. Her contractions are getting closer and closer and she will savour this one moment of release from the pain. Everything hurts, everything's so tight, her back kills and she feels tired and sweaty already and she hasn't started pushing.
"What's that?" Mary asks, hearing a horn blaring.
Francis gasps and he manages to swerve just in time from the oncoming vehicle but crashes into a pole, sending them both lurching forward and then backwards as glass shatters.
"Shit," Francis breathes out when their airbags explode out. "Mary! Are you okay?"
Mary nods before wincing in pain. "Oh, shit..." She breathes out. "I-I think it's coming right now. Oh, God."
Francis curses, searching his pockets for his phone before quickly dialling for the emergency services. He gets out of the car to check where they are and sees the car from earlier crashed.
"God, Mary. I'll be right back, okay?"
"Don't leave me!" Mary cries out with a sob.
Francis bites his lip, looking between the car and his wife. "I think someone's really hurt. We're not in a bad position, they probably are. I'll be five minutes. The ambulances are on their way."
Mary nods shakily. "Go and help them," she says.
Hurrying to the burgundy vehicle a few yards away, Francis finds an elderly woman at the driver's seat and checks her pulse. When he feels nothing, he sighs heavily and quickly says a silent prayer before heading back to Mary.
"It was an old woman. She's dead. I-I think she had a heart attack or something so..."
Mary's heart sinks. "Oh, God..."
He rounds the car and kneels before her. "We're going to be okay, alright?" He brushes her hair behind her ear and kisses the back of her hand. "You're strong and beautiful. You can do this."
"I can do this," Mary says, a wry smile on her face.
...
Present Day
"So... I'm thinking about finally upgrading Francis's car. I mean, he only uses it to go to work and pick the kids up and he even uses my minivan more but I want him to have something that actually can run on these streets. The thing's so outdated!"
She and Kenna sip their teas in her kitchen as Luna runs circles around them and Kenna chuckles. The kids are in the other room, doing their homework or napping in the triplets' case so they're taking some time for an adult conversation.
"The number of times that car has broken down whenever we have date nights as well," Mary continues. "He's gone for a few days so I'll be able to surprise him."
"You want something sleek, modern and sexy like him," Kenna says lightly.
"Exactly," Mary snorts. "Francis is a simple man, he likes good value things. I won't get him an expensive, flashy car if he won't like it."
Kenna tuts. "Hmm... Okay, so black, shiny sedan? That's safe since it will be like his current car..."
"Yeah, but I want him to step away from that and get something new and not the same. I want him to go around in a car with people doing double-takes and him proudly saying I got him it for being an amazing husband," Mary replies.
"Francis doesn't need a car to be proud of you or as a present for being amazing. Girl, he goes around telling people you're a doctor with her own clinic before thirty. He's your number one cheerleader. Motherfucker stole my place," Kenna says.
Mary laughs loudly and sighs wistfully as she scans the cars on the webpage. "Maybe a car with seven seats but looks classy? Like a Jeep? They look so nice."
"Price tag," Kenna sings, eyeing her pointedly over the rim of her mug.
"Urgh, I know! Like the price of one of those was over my mother's life insurance payout," Mary informs her as she scrolls through the Lexus website. "Maybe a Lexus SUV. They're lovely, and it will be great for everyday tasks, going to work and kids stuff. Look, they can have up to seven seats. Every kid will have one, including this little one.." She pats her small bump.
Kenna nods thoughtfully. "God, you know you're old when you're thinking about cars that can contain your kids..."
Mary snorts. "Right? I'll book a session right now. I don't even care." She scans the website, licking her bottom lip. "I'll get him an SUV because of the seats and boot space for when we go on holidays away. God, look at the colour of the interior of this one, my ovaries exploded." She shows Kenna the virtual tour of the colour she's selected and even Kenna gasps.
"I am so jealous right now!"
"His car's better than mine!" Mary says, swooning a little.
She's not had a new car in years either and since she got her beloved minivan last year, she can't complain about upgrading her car. It's done her so well and she and Francis mostly pick the kids up separately, alternating who goes to the nursery and school first before meeting up at either one after work.
"I think this is exactly what he needs. God knows what he and Bash will be feeling after finding their half-brother so this will cheer him up either way-"
"Half-brother...?" Kenna questions.
Mary stills and turns to her. "Bash didn't tell you?"
"Tell me what?"
Mary swallows hard, mentally cursing her husband's brother. "Well, uh... Catherine's got a secret kid. That's why they went to Italy."
Kenna sighs. "Bash said his grandparents were ill," she mumbles. "And Catherine told me she lost her kid after she helped me during my abortion."
"I'm sure they were only protecting you-"
"Protecting me?" Kenna asks quietly, standing up and lifting her handbag. "I asked Bash for honesty, he promised me that yet he can't tell me that he's got a bloody half-brother out there he's gone to find? Even Francis told you."
Mary shuts her laptop and stands, bringing Kenna in for a hug. "I'm sorry. I should have kept my mouth shut-"
"No, it's not you. It's him. Why does he feel like he can't speak to me?" Kenna croaks out. "I thought we were trying."
"Maybe because of everything that's happened, he doesn't want to stress you out..."
Kenna sniffles and pulls away, gratefully accepting the tissue Mary hands her to dab at her eyes. "I cut myself. It was stupid... It happened the week Ana stayed here for the sleepover... It wasn't deep and I just felt suffocated about everything. Then something snapped inside me and I was begging him to remain with me. Telling him that I'd change. I'd be quieter, boring, whatever drew him to her in the first place, I'd do it. If it meant he stayed with me. It's pathetic." She sighs. "Do you know what he did?"
"What?"
"He cried."
Mary's brows raise. "Then what?"
"Said he could live a hundred years and never deserve me," Kenna whispers, bowing her head. "That I'm perfect just the way I am and that he's the one who should change and be different. He begged me. Then he saw the cut since it chose that moment of all fucking moments to bleed and he lost it again, holding me tight as if I'd disappear. I scared him, Mary. I don't always know what goes on in his mind but... we get each other. Not every cheating husband's an arsehole. Sometimes, they're weak and insecure and don't know what to do to handle shit." She gives Mary a wry smile. "You're right. He doesn't want to stress me any more than I am already."
Kenna leaves the kitchen, hearing the sound of one of the babies crying and Mary takes her seat again. She opens up the laptop and books the appointment for the car before putting her laptop away.
Her phone rings and she grabs it, answering it.
"Francis," she breathes out. "How are you?"
"I'm good..."
...
"...I made it to my grandparents'. We went to the adoption place first and well, I think we're getting somewhere," Francis says.
Mary sighs. "Oh, that's good. Do you have a name? Photos? Anything?"
Francis nods, eyeing his brother speaking to their grandparents about the pictures on the table before them. "We do. Olivier Rossi. Forty-three, blonde, blue-eyed, lives on the Italian coast with a wife and two kids. Keeps in touch with the adoption centre with annual donations."
"Bloody hell..." His wife says. "This... Is fate, Francis. It was meant to happen. I'm so happy for you."
"It's not a sure bet, babe," he says softly. "What if he rejects us, rejects Maman? He's been raised by his adoptive parents. He'll think Maman didn't care about him."
Mary clicks her tongue. "Well, you don't have to do anything. You know he's alive and that's enough."
"But he's our blood-"
"And your mother only birthed him," Mary says gently. "This could change his life forever. More so, she's losing bits of herself every day now. It will be like losing her all over again."
Francis blinks back tears, heading out onto the porch. "Mary, we once told each that it's better to have loved than to not have loved at all."
Mary draws a sharp intake of breath. "Good luck, Francis. But don't get your hopes too high, my love."
"I won't," Francis whispers. "Tell the kids I'll call before bedtime. I've got to go."
"Okay. I love you."
Francis smiles widely. "I love you too. I'll bring you back to Italy soon. Just the two of us. Maybe for our anniversary this year. A whole week of this beautiful weather and views..."
"Awh, I'd love that. Bye, babe."
"Bye."
He hangs up and heads back inside just in time to see Bash excuse himself on a call, catching Kenna's name. He takes a seat in front of his grandparents and collects the baby photo of his half-brother and their mother at the hospital before she gave him away. His mother looks so lost and heartbroken, tears streaming down her cheeks as she smiles widely at the baby gurgling in her arms. That baby didn't know his mother was saying 'goodbye'.
"He has one. We made sure they kept one with him. And a locket," his nonna tells him. "Caterina left it here when she went to France to start her life anew. But she never forgot about him."
His grandfather delicately places his mother's locket into his hands. "Show him the locket, perhaps he'll welcome you inside."
Francis nods, opening it up and seeing Catherine's face and Nostradamus's. Etched into the surface of the cover is 'We'll Always Love You' in Italian and in French on the other side. It's a beautiful item and Francis swears to protect it whenever it's in his possession.
"Thank you," he tells them.
"Let him know... We all love him," Nonna replies.
Francis sighs. And yet, the others still don't know..., he thinks.
Soon, he swears. And their mother will talk them through it all.
...
The next day with the kids in front of the TV for the evening after dinner and doing their homework and walking Luna, Mary cleans Francis's car. She plugs the hoover and drags it over to the vehicle, before turning it on and hoovering all the crevices and carpets up. She decides to put the carpet mats in the wash and even attaches a car infuser on the rear mirror.
"Mama?"
Without turning, Mary replies, "Yes, Anne?"
"Why are you cleaning Daddy's car?"
Mary sends her a quick smile over her shoulder before lifting the Dyson hoover into the car to reach some areas. "Because Mama's selling it. Papa has a new car now."
Anne gasps. "Where is it?!"
"It's getting delivered tomorrow," Mary tells her daughter. "I went to test it out today."
"Can you take us to school in it?"
"I'll let Daddy do that since it's his car," Mary says. "Want to help me?"
Anne nods and Mary hands her a flannel and a small bowl of water mixed with soap. She shows Anne how to wipe the seats down and Anne meticulously gets to her task with no complaints as Mary continues to hoover everything. It's an aged car but someone out there wants it for their kid's first car. She's still surprised how quickly it was snapped up.
The more she and Anne clean, the more Mary fears that she's doing something wrong. She wants to surprise Francis but selling his father's old car without his permission might be a dick move. Leaving Anne continuing to wash the seats, Mary pulls out her phone and observes her daughter from the corner of the garage.
"I think I've made a mistake."
"No, the car's so beautiful! The interior almost looks red, Francis loves-"
"Kenna, I mean by selling his old one... Henry used to have it, remember? It was brand new the year he died..." Mary trails off, giving Anne a thumbs up when the girl asks if she's still doing okay.
Kenna tuts. "That car's been through a lot, Mary. A whole damn car crash too. I think it's time to let it go..."
Mary remembers the day they had Rose, that car crash that took an old lady's life, but she'd been dead before they both crashed their cars. The front of the car was fairly damaged and the mechanic tried to get Francis to write it off because of its age but Francis stood his ground and had the car repaired with a recurring payment scheme. It's almost eleven years old.
"Maybe I should stick with it. Until Francis comes home and decides," Mary says softly. "Shit... and that couple were so excited... I'll try and give them some cash to pay it for another car instead."
"Can you afford that?" Kenna asks lightly.
"I'll have you know that a few VIP clients see me," Mary tells her smugly as Kenna chuckles. "I'll probably throw in a hundred. Nothing major, I was about to sell his car for eight-hundred."
Kenna clicks her tongue. "Right. You're too kind," she tells her best friend.
"Well, my conscience battles with me a lot so..." Mary trails off when Anne's done and searches for a new task. "Annie, can you help me put those mats into the washing machine, please?"
"Yeah!"
"Thank you," Mary sings before returning to her phone call. "Might as well give it a good clean for Francis then. I'll call up that couple and give them the bad-ish news. Talk later?"
Kenna hums. "Yep. Bye."
Hanging up, Mary finishes up hoovering the car and winds the cord back up before unplugging the thing. She puts the hoover away and shuts the doors to the car, locking it and putting the key up before finding Anne struggling to stuff the car mats into the washing machine.
"Here, let Mama help," she says with Anne sighing in relief. "Right, it's getting late. Why don't you tell your siblings to get ready for bed and I'll be up to kiss you all?"
"Okay," Anne says, getting up from her knees and heading out of the laundry room.
By the time the kids are down, after having spoken to Francis with Mary biting her tongue so she didn't spill her surprise, she heads to bed. Before she can get into the bed, she feels the familiar churning in her stomach and hurries to throw up. She so misses the days when she'd get cravings because her morning sickness's a bastard.
But she's glad it's happened because it's taken a lot out of her and she feels like she's ready for bed even more. The second her head hits the pillow after she's cleaned herself up, she falls asleep.
...
After having a day to contemplate whether or not to see Olivier, Francis decides that yes, they will see him. He can't coward out now, they flew to another country just for this cause. He must see it through.
Now, at the man's front door, they most certainly can't back out now. He has the locket and the baby photo in his pocket. His heart is going a million miles per second and he feels faint and sweaty but he trudges on.
"Are you ready?" He hears Bash ask Nostradamus. He'd flown in that morning after one of his daughters having an emergency back in France so Francis thinks it was wise to have delayed this a day.
"Ready as I'll ever be," the man replies.
Francis reaches the door first and knocks firmly when he doesn't see a doorbell. They don't wait long because a woman answers the door and blinks in surprise at the sight of the three men before her.
"Hi, we're looking for Olivier Rossi," Francis says.
The woman nods and looks over her shoulder. "Oliviero? It's for you."
She steps away as a man appears, a hand in his pocket. "How can I help you?"
Francis suddenly can't speak now the man's physically in front of him. Even Nostradamus and Bash are quiet, the older man staring at Olivier in shock. They must look quite the sight, suddenly quiet as the Olivier stares at them in confusion and slight alarm.
Francis finally clears his throat, shaking himself out from his stupor. "I'm Francis Valois. That's my brother, Sebastian and uh, our mother's friend, Samuel. Samuel Nostradamus..."
Olivier's eyes widen as he turns to Nostradamus. "It's you."
"I can't believe I've finally found you," Nostradamus breathes out tearfully. "Dear Lord..."
"Come inside," Olivier says, inviting them in and closing the door behind them. He ushers them into the living room and he excuses himself for a second before returning with a pot of tea, orange and apple juice and some cakes. "Help yourselves."
Olivier's wife enters the room and takes a seat beside her husband on the loveseat with a smile. "He's been looking for you, Signor. They wouldn't give him your details. Only your name."
"You've been looking for me?" Nostradamus asks. "What about your mother?"
"She opted not to share her details," Olivier replies sadly. "But I have this." He pulls out the same locket Francis has in his pocket from under his shirt and shows them. It holds the same pictures like the ones in Francis's locket.
Francis pulls out the matching locket in his pocket and shows the other man. "It's our mother's."
Olivier's eyes widen as he looks at Francis and Bash. "You're my mother's children?"
"Yeah," Francis says softly. "Well, I am. She adopted Bash after remarrying our father. It's a long story..." He hands the locket over for Olivier to look through. "Her name's Caterina. But she goes by Catherine, in France, where we're from. She was born and raised here in Italy, her parents are an hour or so away from you."
Olivier sighs. "From your being here, I'm guessing she's dead?"
Bash shakes his head. "She's got dementia though. It's in the early stages but it slows her down a little. I can't quite believe this is real."
Same, Francis thinks, accepting the locket back. It's slightly awkward and nervous chuckles go around. What do you tell your long-lost half-brother? Do you tell them about your lives? Your families? Your jobs? Parents?
"Right, I guess I should explain why she gave you up," Nostradamus says gently. "It doesn't quite have a glamourous beginning..."
...
Surprisingly, they talk for hours and hours and hours and everyone's relaxed over wine and dinner and Olivier's interest in their wives and children grows as his own children strike conversations with the men across the table from them.
"...Mary, she's a psychologist and owns her own clinic," Francis says proudly, showing Olivier and his wife, Bianca, pictures of his family. "We have three kids. She's currently expecting our fourth."
"Wait, what?" Bash says, making Francis's eyes widen.
Francis smiles meekly. "She wanted to wait until the thirteen-week mark, I'm sorry!"
"Congratulations," Bash says, giving him a quick side hug. "We ought to let the others catch up."
Francis snorts. "Mary's already told me to get the..." He gives the men a look and they catch on.
"It's not the worst thing in the world," Bash says. "Kenna - that's my wife, Olivier - waited for me, hand and foot. Before she got fed up and kicked me out of our bed because the triplets were doing somersaults in her."
Olivier roars with laughter. "I can't believe you have triplets."
"And a demanding daughter," Bash adds. "God really loves me."
"Francis, don't worry about it. Just get it done, you won't regret it," Olivier says, patting Francis's shoulder.
Francis pulls a face and sighs. "I'll try and not wimp out. At least I've got until the baby comes." He shows Olivier more photos of their family. "That's Mama, Elisabeth and Claude. We took this photo when we went to Chamonix for the first time after our father's death. Uh, that's Charles and Hercule, great guys and they're incredibly smart. Charles is going to do a Master's in Computer Science and Hercule's studying architecture now."
Olivier sighs wistfully. "A whole life..." He muses. "You're wonderful people. I wish we'd have known each other from the start."
"Yeah," Francis says quietly. "But we know each other now. That's all that matters."
Olivier turns to Bianca thoughtfully before turning back to the men. "Next month, the children are on holiday. Why don't we come for a visit? Meet our mother."
"Are you sure you're ready?" Bianca asks.
"I've waited for forty-three years, my patience is running thin," Olivier replies lightly.
Francis smiles warmly. "We'd love that. You can stay with us. Don't bother booking a hotel and Samuel can join us. We'll celebrate our newfound connection."
They clink their glasses and Francis smiles widely, thinking about how he can't wait to tell Mary all about it and surprise his mother.
Before they leave, Olivier gives them his contact details and short hugs before wishing them safe journies home. Where Francis and Bash will return home the next morning, Samuel will stay for a few more days to spend time with their grandparents.
Strangely enough, Francis feels quite complete.
...
Wednesday afternoon sees Francis arriving home and getting out of his Uber before retrieving his suitcase and heading up the stairs of his home. The kids are at school and nursery and Mary's at work so he's home alone. He smiles, not quite waiting to surprise them after informing them he'd arrive in the evening falsely just for this reason.
Leaving his suitcase unpacked in his and Mary's bedroom, he heads downstairs, sheds his light jacket and retrieves an apron before washing his hands and checking what they have in the fridge and cupboards.
Seeing the fresh fruit and vegetables in the fridge and the pizza flour in the cupboards, he feels quite in the mood to make pizza. They've got a pizza oven in the garden his mother often used in Summers when he was growing up so he immediately gets to work and finds ingredients to make a chocolate cake for dessert while he's at it.
He's not the greatest baker, Mary's miles way better than him but sometimes his efforts don't go to waste. By the time he's done with the six medium-sized pizzas and cake, it's almost time for his wife to come home with the kids and the cake is lopsided on the serving stand.
"Maybe frosting will make this look better," he muses, grabbing the pot from the baking cupboard and opening it up to start slathering it all over the cake. It's a mess and he even laughs at it but with the sprinkles, the kids shouldn't complain all that much about his lack of presentation skills.
When he hears a key scratch in the keyhole of the front door, he turns and raises a brow in confusion as Mary always enters with the kids from the right, the garage.
"Right, hands washed, shoes and coats put away and homework on the table," Mary orders, Francis grinning from his position resting against the counter.
"Rose, ow!" Anne cries out.
"Rose, don't make me take that toy off you! Stop hitting Anne with it," Mary says with a heavy sigh. "Jamie, how was the Louvre?"
"It was great! We saw a lot of cool paintings and the Mona Lisa!" James gasps wide. "She's so pretty. Can we go to Italy? Please, please, please?!"
Mary chuckles. "Baby, we'll see. Daddy might want to take us to see your great-grandparents in August," she replies before heading into the kitchen with a hand through her hair. When she sees Francis, she lets out a short scream, jumping out of her skin. "Francis!"
The kids gasp from the other room. "Daddy's home!"
Before he knows it, Francis is pulled and prodded and yanked by his kids before he laughs, kissing them all and squeezing Rose's cheeks. "Hey, my little monsters. Giving Mama grief, eh?"
"No," Anne says sweetly. "I helped Mama clean your car!"
Francis gives his wife a small grin. "Did you now? Why, thank you!"
"It was supposed to be a surprise," Mary chuckles, crossing her arms as she waits to get her own loved-up moment with her husband. He seems to be in a really good mood, dinner and dessert are on the table so the meeting with his half-brother must have gone well. "Alright, let go of Daddy. Since he's made dinner, we might as well eat it now."
Francis chuckles. "Go and wash your hands, kids. Be quick or I'll eat all of your pizzas!"
"Oh, no!" Rose whines, toddling off first as her siblings follow after.
"Hey, Goddess," Francis finally says in relief, pulling Mary in for a deep kiss. "God, I missed you..."
Wrapping her arms around his neck, Mary brushes her nose against his. "I missed you too. How was it?"
"Amazing."
"I can tell," she laughs, gesturing to their meal. "Cake and pizza? You're fattening me up."
"Oh, you worked out that the extra pizza's for the baby, huh?"
Mary giggles. "Thank you," she says, kissing him again. "I have a surprise for you..."
She pulls him into the garage and hops onto the hood of the new car. She starts to do some sexy poses when she sees her husband's surprised face and she laughs when he almost chokes at her almost falling but managing to catch herself in time.
"Jesus, woman. Trying to kill me twice over?!" He cries out, steadying her when she hops off. "Mary, who's this car for? We don't need-"
"Your car is outdated and this car is great," Mary says. "It's my gift to you."
Francis lightly scowls. "So you complain when I get you a Louis Vuitton bag yet in the same breath buy me a lastest new model of a car?"
"Well, we have more money now because we both work full-time," she says. "I'm earning my own wage now so... if I want to spend money on my hubby, I will. I'm now flattered about that bag I always use for work, now you should be flattered about your new car and show it off tomorrow at work!"
Francis laughs. More so when she opens the door and shoves him into the driver's seat to start the car and show him everything it does. He's actually relieved it's seven-seater because his other car that sits beside this one only has five which is enough when he picks the three kids they currently have up from nursery and school. No more separate school runs when they come from work. On the days he takes off from the restaurants, he's with Mary at the clinic to help with the small things and admin and they use her minivan.
"How do you know so much about cars?"
"The man who helped me was ever so lovely and patient," she replies, making his brows raise. "He's fifty with a wife and kid, don't worry!"
He chuckles and playfully rolls his eyes. "I like it, I guess."
Her smile leaving her face, Mary sighs. "I thought I'd get a better reaction than that..."
"I'm sorry, I'm just tired. I pretty much started cooking and baking as soon as I got home to surprise you all. The energy's gone," he replies, cupping her cheek. "But I'm so grateful for this gift. The other car's been through so much... I guess I should sell it now."
Mary sighs, getting inside through the other side. "You don't have to. It was your dad's."
"It's just a car," Francis says tightly. "I mean, he owned it for three months. It's time to move on."
"I know a couple who'd like to buy it. I told them that I'll hold off on making a decision behind your back because they wanted to get it as their son's first car for passing his exam," Mary informs him. "I didn't want to be inconsiderate and sell it behind your back."
Francis lifts her hand and kisses the back of it. "Call them up. It's time."
Smiling, Mary nods. "I love you."
"I love you too."