"Are you excited for today, baby?" Bridget asked, as she gave her a kiss.
"Mm, and nervous." Franky ran her hand down the blonde's back.
The brunette had spent the better part of the past couple weeks researching, and looking at properties. To her surprise, it hadn't been hard for her to secure a small business loan due to the winnings she'd gotten from the show. Today, she was going to look at a place that she was pretty sure was going to be the one. It checked all the boxes on the list she had in mind. She liked the size, the location, and the architecture. The bonus was that it was actually within her budget as well. She had a feeling that it wouldn't last on the market for very long, so she'd booked the first available showing as soon as she'd received the alert for the listing.
"It could be a big day if you like what you see." Bridget gave her a smile.
"I like what I see," Franky said, letting her eyes roam down to the blonde's chest, then back up again.
"Be serious," the older woman gave her a playful warning.
"I am." The brunette couldn't help the cheeky smile that appeared on her face. She understood what Bridget meant, but she was feeling stressed even before they were talking about it, and she wanted to spend their last few minutes together in bed this morning just enjoying each other.
"We have something else we need to discuss as well." The blonde let out a quiet laugh as she let Franky push her onto her back then settle on top of her.
"What's that?" the brunette asked as she placed a kiss on Bridget's jaw.
"Your birthday." The older woman had thought about surprising her with something small like a nice meal out with her friends, but then realized that Franky had never really discussed any of her past birthdays. She worried that, maybe because of how the brunette had grown up, birthdays were something that held only bad memories, and a surprise celebration would only serve to upset her.
Franky lifted her head, and studied Bridget's face. "No." She shook her head slightly. "I don't want to do anything for it."
"Nothing? I was thinking maybe we could go out for dinner with Liz and your friends, nothing too big if you didn't want it to be. Or we could have a party here at the house, go to a club and dance." The blonde smiled, remembering the night they had gone out with their friends. Franky was a good dancer.
"Where did you go just now?" The brunette had picked up on the change in Bridget's expression, and was keen to shift the topic away from her birthday.
"I was remembering the night we danced at the club. The way you held me; the way you kissed me." She smiled as Franky placed a soft kiss on her lips.
"I can take you dancing again." She didn't need an excuse to take her wife out. "Just not for my birthday." She had seen Bridget open her mouth, and anticipated what her next statement would be. "Gidge," she sighed, and decided maybe it was best to just be fully honest with the other woman. "My last birthday was the night that I was with Kim, and I just...I don't want to think about it. I just want it to go by this year, and be quiet and uneventful. Besides, I already got all my birthday wishes." She leaned down and kissed the blonde again.
"Just a dinner with us and Liz then? We can do it here." Bridget was trying to find a compromise between respecting her wife's wishes, and not just letting the day go by unacknowledged.
"Okay," Franky sighed. "Invite Vera, too." A nice dinner at home with her family actually sounded perfect.
Franky sat in her car outside the building she was going to view, waiting for her realtor, Nathan to arrive. He'd looked over the property details after she'd asked him to book a showing, and when he got back to her with an appointment time, he said it looked promising. She hoped he was right. She'd tried hard not to get too set on it when she hadn't even seen it in person yet, but she'd already made plans in her mind of how she'd decorate it, and what the layout would be like.
Nathan arrived a few minutes before the scheduled time, and the brunette got out of her car to meet him.
"Hey, Franky, I'm excited for you to see this one, let's head inside." He led the way to the door, and entered the code into the lockbox.
As soon as she stepped inside, she had a good feeling about the place. The back corner was all sliding glass doors that could be pushed back to open into a small outdoor seating area. The interior was a little dark for her liking, but some paint and a new countertop would fix that.
"I brought this for you." Nathan handed her the printout of specs he'd pulled from the real estate listing site. "I have a feeling you won't be needing it though." He'd been in the business long enough to know that when a client had that look in their eye, his job was as good as done.
"I really like this place," the brunette said as she ran her hand along the countertop. "I'd paint the walls white, get some colorful artwork, and décor, maybe a butcher block top for this."
"It's a solid building. Those are all cosmetic changes that could be done easily." He loved when clients practically sold the properties to themselves. "How about we take a look at the kitchen?"
Franky followed him into the back part of the restaurant. As she looked around, she saw that some of the equipment definitely needed to be replaced, and all of it needed a good cleaning. It had obviously been awhile since anyone had used it. She looked at the price shown on the listing in her hand.
"Do you think they'd take a bit less?" She really wanted the place, but she'd like to save a bit on the price if she could, and use that money for the renovations.
"They usually leave some room for negotiation. I would offer them less and expect to pay somewhere in the middle of your offer, and the listed price." He knew that as long as she didn't put in a low ball offer, Franky would probably be successful.
"Let's do it." The brunette felt like she should have been more nervous saying that, but maybe when something was right, you just knew it.
"Are you sure?" he saw Franky nod. "Alright. I would suggest an offer pending an inspection. Then if something really bad comes up that we weren't aware of, you'll have a way out of the deal."
"Yeah, sure, whatever you recommend." The brunette was ready to sign on the dotted line.
"Gidge, yeah, I'm just leaving the place now. It's amazing! I told Nathan to put in an offer." Franky didn't normally call Bridget at work, but she knew she'd be on her lunch break now, and she was excited about her potential purchase.
"That's fantastic, baby! I can't wait to see it." The blonde was delighted that all of her wife's planning and research were finally paying off.
"I can't wait to show you." Franky checked for traffic as she dashed across the street. "I'm going to grab a coffee, and just look over the paperwork before I pick up Em."
"Sounds great! I have a group session starting in a minute, so I have to go, but I'll see you at home tonight." Bridget hadn't realized how quickly her break had gone by.
"Okay, I love you, babe," the brunette said as she walked up to the small cafe.
"I love you, too."
Bridget hung up, and Franky slid her phone back into her pocket. She loved small places like this. She always found their coffee was better than any of the big chain stores.
She ordered her usual, and took a seat at one of the small tables in the back. It was a bit quieter here, and she wanted to be able to concentrate. Nathan said he'd put in their offer right away, and she knew she may be jumping the gun a bit, but she couldn't help starting to make lists in her mind of things she'd need to buy, and which renovations to start with.
She glanced up as she took a sip of her coffee, and her attention was drawn to the woman wiping down the tables on the other side of the room. For a second, she thought there was something familiar about her, but the woman now had her back to the brunette, and Franky felt awkward staring at her, waiting for her to turn around, so she went back to her reading.
The woman made her way a few tables closer, and this time when the brunette looked up, they locked eyes for a second. Franky quickly began to gather her papers into her file, and stood from her chair.
"Franky, wait." The woman stepped towards Franky when she realized she was getting ready to leave.
"No." The brunette shook her head. "I can't…"
"Franky, I just want to talk for a minute." The woman reached out for Franky's arm but quickly thought better of it, and pulled her hand back.
"I don't want to talk to you, Kim." The brunette went to step around her, but Kim blocked her way.
"Please." She glanced towards the front counter. "Don't leave. I really need this job, and I don't want my boss to think I ran you off."
"Well, it would be the truth, wouldn't it?" Franky looked over to see a middle-aged man, who she assumed to be Kim's boss, watching their exchange.
"Just five minutes." Kim pleaded with her.
The brunette let herself drop back into her chair, and sat the file down on the table.
"Time starts now," Franky said, looking at her watch.
"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. I know I messed up, and did some things I shouldn't have done." She paused.
"You stalked me, then broke into my house, and said you wanted to kidnap a child as some form of revenge for me cancelling a date. A date, Kim. Then, when I tried to do a nice thing, and get you home safely, you ran off into the night. I went after you, you know. Even after all that, I went after you because I knew what a shitty neighbourhood we were in." Franky realized her voice was getting louder, so she took a deep breath before she continued. "I went to jail because of that, because some homeless guy saw me looking for you. Then, you told the cops that I was the one who beat you up. I don't know why you changed your mind in the end, but I was hours away from being completely fucked."
"Because I didn't want you to get hurt again. I thought you'd do some time, and that would be that. You break my heart, I make you do a few weeks in jail, then we're even. It was messed up. I was messed up. I see that now." Kim sighed. "I didn't think anything bad would happen to you in there, and then when it did…" She shook her head.
"You thought I'd just do a few weeks for a serious assault?" Franky looked at her for a minute in disbelief that she could be so naïve to think that a crime that serious would carry such a small sentence. Then something else that Kim had just said clicked in her mind. "Wait, how did you know I got hurt in there?" For a second, the brunette thought that maybe Kim had somehow hired Juice and her boys to do the attack, but no, it had clearly been in retaliation for her ruining their fun with Vera.
"Your girlfriend." Kim glanced down at Franky's left hand. "Your wife came to visit me in the hospital. She told me what happened and said I should do the right thing."
The detective's words that day in Wentworth came back to the brunette. 'She wanted to revise her statement. Said she needed to 'do the right thing', to quote her exact words'.
"She never told you." Kim read the expression on Franky's face. "Anyway, she's a good one, and I really am sorry. I just wanted to tell you that. And don't worry, you won't hear from me again." She stood up, and walked into the kitchen leaving the brunette staring after her in silence.
Franky gathered her things once again and walked quickly back to her car. She vaguely heard the sound of a horn, and someone yelling at her as she crossed the street. She sat in her car, not knowing where to go, so she started to drive.
"If you're here to invite me to your birthday dinner, you're too late. Bridget already called me earlier." Liz didn't need to look up from her desk to know who was standing in her doorway. She'd know the brunette's footsteps anywhere. When she didn't get any reply, she lifted her head to see Franky standing there, tears running down her cheeks. "Love, hey, come here, what's wrong?"
Liz got up and went to the brunette. She guided her into the room, and pushed the door closed behind them.
Franky shook her head.
"Are you okay? Is Bridget okay? Em?" Liz was going through everything she could think of that could make the brunette show up at her door like this.
"No, they're fine." Franky looked down at her hands; at the ring on her finger. "I saw Kim at the cafe I went to today."
"Ah." Liz sat back in her chair, thinking she knew now why the young woman in front of her was so upset. "And what happened?"
"She wanted to apologize." The brunette looked up at Liz. "I really think she meant it. She seems like she's doing better. She has a job there. If I'd known, I wouldn't have gone in." Franky shrugged. She played with the silver ring on her thumb. "She said Gidge went to see her the night before she talked to the cops again. She told Kim that I'd been beaten up, and urged her to tell the truth. I guessed it worked, cause here I am."
"Well... " Liz didn't really know what was so bad about what Franky was saying.
"She never told me she went there. We agreed we wouldn't have secrets, and I had to find this out from Kim." Franky wiped her face. "It worked out, but it could have gone so wrong, and I never even knew she did it."
"Franky, love." Liz reached over, and placed her hand over the brunette's."You know I don't condone lying to your partner, but I think you should talk to Bridget before you get yourself worked up too much more. I think she has her reasons for this one, and you should hear her out."
"I don't know how I feel. I'm mad, sad, disappointed." Franky shook her head to clear it. "I've never been mad at her before."
"Are you mad at her, or mad about the situation?" When Liz got nothing but silence as an answer, she continued. "Go home, and talk to her."
"I need to pick up Em soon." The brunette wiped her face again, and took a deep breath. She couldn't pick the young girl up looking this upset.
"I'll pick up Em, and we'll have supper, then you can let me know when you're ready for her to come home." Liz knew that the longer Franky kept this inside without talking to the blonde, the worse it would get for her. "I'll tell her you got held up at your viewing, and asked if I could pick her up instead."
"Okay." The brunette knew there was no point in arguing. "Thanks."
She stood, and gave Liz a hug before she left.
"Hey, baby!" Bridget came through the door with her usual greeting. "How was your afterno-" She stopped short when she saw Franky pacing back and forth between the dining table and the back of the couch with tears in her eyes. "Franky, what's wrong?"
The blonde wanted to walk over to her, but something about the younger woman's body language made her stay where she was. She hadn't seen her this agitated since the night Kim had showed up at her apartment as they were arriving back from the club.
"You went to see Kim in the hospital." Franky was still pacing.
"I… yeah, I did." She had a sick feeling in her stomach. "I should have told you."
"Yeah, you should have. I had to hear it from Kim." The brunette saw the look of surprise on Bridget's face. "She was working at the cafe I was going to when we were talking on the phone."
"I should have told you." The blonde knew she'd already said that , but she didn't know what else to say.
"We promised each other there would be no secrets." Franky threw her arms open and shrugged before letting them drop to her sides. "And on top of everything, I had to hear it from someone I never even wanted to fucking see again."
"Franky, where's Em?" Bridget was just now realizing that her niece hadn't come to greet her, and she didn't see or hear her anywhere in the house.
"She's with Liz. I went to see her earlier, and she offered to take her so we could talk." The brunette looked at her wife, and felt a whole new batch of tears starting. "Gidge, I could have lost you. Do you realize that? What if you hadn't gotten through to her and she turned you in? Told the cops you were harassing her or something? You could have lost your job! You could have gone to jail! Then what would have happened to Em? I know she still had Tim then, but he was already having problems. We wouldn't have been there to see that she wasn't getting fed or looked after properly. What if he'd had his accident, and neither of us were around? She'd be in foster care! You know, at first I thought I was mad at you for not telling me about it, but then I realized I was mad at you for putting yourself in a position to be taken away from us."
"Franky, I get it, I get all of that." The blonde took a step forward, then stopped. "But you need to see my side of it, too. After I helped you in the shower, it just hit me how badly they'd hurt you, and they hadn't even gotten to finish the job. I wasn't thinking totally clearly, I'll admit that, and you made valid points about Em, but baby, I was so scared at that point, that if you stayed in there any longer, they would find a way to finish what they'd started. I couldn't let that happen." It was Bridget's turn to wipe her tears.
Franky hated seeing her wife cry. She understood the blonde's side of it, but she couldn't shake the thoughts of them not being able to be together, and Emily being taken away, that had been running through her mind all afternoon.
"I can go stay at Vera's tonight if you'd like some time to yourself. I'll pick up Em on the way." Bridget didn't want to go, but the brunette's silence was something she wasn't used to, and she thought maybe Franky just needed some more time to process everything.
"I don't want you to go." The younger woman took in a shaky breath. "I just don't know what to do with all this." She motioned to herself. "We've never done this before."
"I know, baby. It's the first, but it won't be the last." She took another step towards Franky, and the brunette immediately reached out, and pulled her into a tight embrace. She closed her eyes, and rested her head against her wife's chest. She could hear the younger woman's heart still beating fast.
"I still feel sometimes like someone is going to show up, and tell me that this isn't my life, that I have to give it all back. That I was never supposed to have you and Em. It scares the fuck out of me." She felt the blonde tighten her arms around her. "I just realized today how close that may have come to being a reality."
"I'm sorry, baby." Bridget was seeing now how wrong her actions all those months ago could have gone. "I promise you, this life is yours, and no one is going to take us away from you. Let's have a nice bath before we call Liz to bring Em back."
"Are you sure?" Franky asked softly.
"Yeah, of course. If you want to," she said, as she rubbed the other woman's back.
"I just need to know why you didn't tell me you went there." The brunette hated herself for asking, but she needed an answer.
"Because I didn't want you to worry any more after what had happened. I wanted you to focus on your recovery, and move on from the experience of being in there." Bridget could hear her wife's heart rate slowly coming down.
"Okay." Franky nodded. She believed that the blonde thought she was doing what was best at the time.
As they settled into the warm water, the brunette wrapped her arms around Bridget, and felt the older woman relax her full weight back against her.
"Tell me about the place you saw today." The blonde had only seen a couple pictures of it online, but she knew those never really did the places justice.
"It was perfect, Gidge. Just the right size, lots of natural light, huge sliding glass panels that open onto a patio. I want to paint it white and use the décor and artwork for splashes of color, and I want a butcher block countertop in the dining area. I can't wait for you to see it." She gave Bridget a kiss on the shoulder.
"When will you find out if they accepted your offer?" the blonde asked as she pulled Franky's arm around her more.
"Within twenty-four hours. I'm so nervous." The brunette let out a slow breath.
"That's not so bad." She had honestly thought it would be longer than that. "Are you still up to having your birthday dinner tomorrow night?"
"Yeah, maybe we'll have two things to celebrate." Franky closed her eyes, and felt the blonde rest her head back against her shoulder.