The next morning, Frank woke Eva by gently kissing her. "Good morning, love." Her ran his fingers through her hair and she opened her eyes. "How are you feeling?"
"Sore, but I'll live," she said softly.
"Are you up to seeing people today?"
"I think so. I really need to see Faye."
"Then let's go and see her." They climbed out of bed and got dressed. After gathering up the few things they had in the room, they left and headed to Audrey's.
When they reached the driveway, they saw Stuart's car. "Are you sure you're ready, Eva?" Frank asked, concerned about his wife's well being.
Eva put her hand on his face. "Frankie, I'm positive." They got out of their car and headed to the door; they didn't get the chance to ring the bell before the door opened. Audrey reached for her daughter right away.
"Oh, sweetheart," she said, tears running from her eyes.
"I'm fine mom, really," Eva said, returning her mother's embrace. "I'm sorry that Faye was here for so long."
"Eva, please, she's more than welcome here. You know that. She's down for a nap right now…but there are a couple of other people here anxious to see you." As Eva walked into the living room to see Stuart and Amanda, Audrey took Frank aside. She didn't want Eva to hear her cry. "Frank," she started. "I don't know what exactly to say to you right now."
Frank put his hand on Audrey's shoulder. "There's no need for you to say anything to me, Audrey."
"Yes, there is." She tried to hold back a sob, but it escaped her throat. "Frank, you not only saved my daughter from John doing God knows what last night, you saved her from a life that could have killed her somewhere down the line. There was always something about John that ate at the back of my mind, but I could never put my finger on it. He always put this perfect facade out for everyone to see – obviously, that's not how he truly is." Audrey hugged Frank in the same loving manner that his mother used to hug him when he was a boy. He knew that she truly loved him as her own. "Thank you, Frank."
"You are much more than welcome, Audrey." He hugged her back and they both joined the conversation in the living room.
"Nobody at his firm wants anything to do with him," Stuart was saying. "He's going to end up with appointed counsel. I don't think there's anything to worry about."
"Stuart, maybe Eva doesn't want to talk about this right now," Amanda said.
Eva chimed in, "It's O.K., really."
Stuart continued, "Well, I'm just glad to see that he didn't hurt you as badly as my imagination made it out to be." Looking at Eva, it was almost impossible to tell that anything had happened to her at all. The minimal lipstick she was wearing covered the split on her lip quite well.
"Well," Eva replied softly, "most of the bruising is from my stomach down."
Stuart, feeling awful that he had said anything at all, took on a very apologetic tone. "I'm so sorry, Eva, I didn't mean…"
"It's O.K., Stuart, I know exactly what you mean. With what the faces of some of those women on T.V. look like, I'm very grateful that he only hurt me where he did. Nobody can look at me and wonder what happened or anything." She shifted a bit uncomfortably on the couch. "Um, I want to go see Faye. Excuse me." Eva walked back towards Audrey's bedroom.
"I'm a moron," Stuart muttered.
"Stuart," Amanda started, "you're not a moron, but sometimes you need to just back off…"
"It's all right. Both of you, please stop," Frank said. "Let's just leave this discussion behind. Hopefully all of this will fade into the background for a while this afternoon." Everyone in the room smiled at that notion. Today was the day that Frank was going to give Eva what he knew she wanted terribly, but had never really talked about. She was to receive this gift last night, but under the circumstances, it was postponed.
Frank quietly made his way to Audrey's bedroom. He smiled as he saw Eva standing over Faye; she was softly humming to her. Eva turned and saw Frank in the doorway.
"I'm just so glad that she wasn't there last night," she whispered. Frank made his way over to her.
"As am I." He wrapped his arms around Eva and held her tightly against him. Softly he said, "I can't believe how close I came to possibly losing you forever last night. You, and our daughter, are my whole life." For a few moments he stayed very still, holding Eva and gazing down at Faye. Finally he said, "I have something very special for both of you."
"Oh?" Eva said, looking up at him.
"Yes. Is she ready to get up yet?"
"I think so. Frank, what do you have planned?"
"Something that will make you feel much more at ease, and that's all I'll say." He smiled at Eva. "Let's get her ready to go."
"Go?"
"Do you trust me?"
"Always, Frankie, but…"
He kissed the top of her head. "Just trust me, Eva."
They got Faye dressed and went back out into the living room. Eva was confused when she saw it was empty.
"Um, where did they go?"
"To the same place we're going." And that's all he would tell her. He put Faye into her car seat and they were soon driving towards Eva's surprise. She kept begging Frank to tell her what exactly was going on, but he would only smile at her, and asked her to be patient.
Within fifteen minutes, they reached the development that Stuart had been working in.
"Frank, what are we doing here?"
Frank stopped the car at the entrance to the development and turned to Eva. "Let me put this on you," he said presenting a black silk scarf. "Unless you will be too uncomfortable, then I…"
"It's O.K., I trust you," Eva said, smiling.
Frank tied the scarf around Eva's eyes, then began to drive again. Eva felt the car turn, then stop once more. "Don't move," Frank said, kissing her cheek. Eva heard him get Faye from the backseat, then her door opened. He helped her out of the car and shut the door. "Take my hand." Frank walked her a few steps to the right, then untied the scarf. Eva's eyes stayed shut. "I know it's no longer your birthday, but I just couldn't bring you here last night. Happy birthday, my love. Open your eyes."
Slowly, Eva did as Frank said. Her eyes grew wide as she took in the sight in front of her. "Oh, my God," she said putting her hand to her mouth. She began to cry for what felt like the hundredth time. "Frank, what on earth?" Frank put his arm around her. "This is exactly the same as what I drew in my…" her voice trailed.
"I know," Frank said softly. "Do you like it?"
"It's gorgeous."
"It's ours."
"What? How?"
"Stuart built it for us. I deduced that this was exactly what you wanted, although you never said much about it out loud. And you did say that you didn't want to be within ten feet of our building…"
"But how could you possibly keep this from me?"
Frank smiled. "Think of this as a wedding gift from my mother." Eva gave him a very confused look. "When she sent down the jewel you are wearing, she sent several others with it. They provided more than enough funding to build this for you."
Eva was speechless. Stuart, Amanda, and Audrey came out of the front door and joined them in the driveway.
"Do you like it?" Stuart asked, nervously.
"It's amazing," she replied, hugging him. "Thank you so much."
Audrey took Faye from Frank. She then cheerfully asked, "Are you going to carry her over the threshold?"
Frank smiled, "I suppose that's customary. We'll be there in a moment." The others went back inside, and Eva looked at Frank with an immeasurable amount of happiness reflecting in her eyes.
"I think that saying thank you isn't quite enough. You are the most amazing…" She stopped speaking and gently pulled Frank close to her. She then engaged him in a long, romantic kiss.
"That's much more than a thank you," Frank said, softly laughing. He then swept her into his arms and walked to the front door. While carrying her inside, he said, "Welcome home, Eva."