Fran walked upstairs, thinking about how, in just a few weeks, she was finally going to be a married woman! And, not only that, but this was a guy she really loved. She couldn't believe she'd ever thought she loved Danny, her former fiancé. That was just lust, she told herself. This is the real thing.
With all these thoughts swimming around in her head, Fran entered what would soon be her bedroom. She was going to measure Max's closet to see how many of her clothes would fit. Given the enormous size of her wardrobe, this was going to be easier said than done. Fran took a few measurements. It was clear that this was simply not going to work. Not even half her outfits would fit in here, unless she could persuade Maxwell to get rid of every suit he owned. Since that didn't seem likely, Fran began to see if there was anything she could remove to make room.
The closet was fairly empty, except of course for Maxwell's clothes. As Fran looked around, a box caught her eye. It sat in the corner, all alone, covered in dust. She reached in and pulled it out. Whatever was in it weighed a ton. Fran examined the box. "This can't be anything important," she said aloud. "Otherwise Max wouldn't have buried it all the way in the back of the closet."
Fran lugged the box toward the bedroom door, intending to throw it out later. That was probably what Max was intending to do with it anyway, he was just too busy to find the time. She set the box on the floor and started back toward the closet. 'There's gotta be something else in there I can get rid of,' Fran thought. But before she could see if there was, something inside her told her to go back and see what was in the box before throwing it out. Fran opened the box, not really knowing what she expected to find inside.
As she set the lid on the floor and peered inside, Fran saw the box was filled with mementos of the children's childhood. She pulled out a smaller box which was obviously decorated by one of the children with paint and pasta glued on it. Inside Fran found baby photos.
"Aww, look what a cute baby Maggie was," Fran said while flipping through the photos. "Oh, and I can see B was always a trickster," Fran laughed to herself as she held a photo of B at the age of 4 chasing Maggie around with a water gun.
Next Fran came to a picture of Maxwell at the hospital holding newborn Gracie in his arms standing next to Sara's bed. "Look at my precious Gracie. I almost forget sometimes that she is not really mine," sighed Fran.
After putting the photos down, Fran looked back in the box and saw a pink book sticking out. 'Hmm...I wonder what's in here,' she thought.
Upon closer inspection, Fran discovered that the book was a diary. When she opened it, all the entries were written in neat, yet unfamiliar handwriting. 'This must be Sara's,' Fran thought.
"July 12th - Maggie smiled at me this afternoon. I had to call Max at the theater to tell him. Maggie is so beautiful! God, I love being a mother!" Fran couldn't help feeling a little strange about reading this. After all, this was someone's diary. She felt as if she were trespassing or something.
It was also strange to see that, although Fran loved these kids like they were hers, they really weren't. She wasn't the one who brought them into the world. 'This is silly,' Fran thought. 'I've raised them for five years now, and I love them. That makes me a mother.'
Without really thinking, Fran flipped ahead in the diary. "March 10th - The doctor called this afternoon. The results of my tests are back. I'm going to have another baby!! This will make three! I have a feeling this one's a girl. I can't wait till the baby gets here! Max is thrilled too. I couldn't be happier." Fran was touched, until she looked at the year. 1992. In fact, this entry was written only a few years before Sara passed away. She put the book down. This was far too personal for her to be reading, especially since all of it was written by a woman who was virtually a stranger to her.
Feeling uncomfortable with reading the diary, Fran set it aside and started exploring what else was in the box. She picked up a stack of the children's artwork and a piece of paper fell out.
"Hmm...I wonder what this is," Fran said as she picked up the paper. As she opened it she could tell it was letter written in Maxwell's handwriting. "Ahh, let's see what my sweetie Maxwell had to say."
And Fran began to read the letter.
My Dearest Sara,
I cannot believe you are gone. I miss you terribly. If it had to happen to one of us, why not me? I would do anything to have you back with me and our children. Oh, the children...I don't know how they will go on without you. Poor little Grace is so young. But don't you worry she will always know her mother. I will make sure of that. I know I'll never love anyone as much as I love you.
That was all Fran could take and she stopped reading the letter. "How am I ever going to live up to Sara in Maxwell's mind?" Fran question aloud to herself.
Just then Fran heard a voice calling her. As she looked up, there before her stood Sara.
Fran did a double take. "What the--?" She looked down at the things lying on the floor, all personal possessions of Sara's. Suddenly, Fran felt terribly guilty to be snooping like this.
As if she had read Fran's mind, Sara smiled. "Don't worry, I'm not mad at you for looking in the box. In fact, I had hoped you would."
"What a minute, what are you doing here?" Fran asked, shocked. A dead woman was standing here in front of her. This made no sense.
"No, you're not going crazy," Sara said as Fran began to speak. "It's just that I noticed you were looking through the box, and I thought it was time I paid you a visit."
"Why?" Fran asked.
"Well, I know you and Max are going to be married in a few weeks, and I know you're having some doubts right now. I thought I could help reassure you," Sara said.
"Reassure me? How?" Fran asked, still not quite sure what to make of what was happening.
"I know you feel like you're going to take my place in the children's lives. Please don't worry about that. Max has always made sure that they won't forget me," Sara said.
"Yeah, but they're your children," Fran said, looking at the picture of her in the hospital having Grace. "You're the one who gave birth to them. I'm really just the nanny."
"You were never just the nanny," Sara corrected. "You didn't only take care of the children, you also had to take care of Max's heart, too."
"He loved you so much," Fran said.
"He loves you, too," Sara said. She could tell that Fran was still skeptical. "Let me ask you a question. How did you and Max first meet?"
"I knocked on the door selling cosmetics, and next thing I knew, I was the nanny. I didn't know the first thing about raising kids!" Fran said.
Sara laughed. "That's right. And what do you suppose brought you to the door that day?"
"Shades of the Orient Cosmetics?" Fran joked. What on earth was Sara getting at?
"No, Fran, I mean, how is it you ended up on this particular doorstep on the same day Max was interviewing nannies?" Sara asked.
Fran shrugged. "Just luck, I guess. Fate."
"With a little help from above," Sara said with a smile. "Yes, Fran, it's true. I sent you here."
Fran sat there completely dumbfounded. "You sent me here? How? Why?"
Sara quietly giggled as she could tell Fran's mind was reeling with questions. "I had been watching you when you worked in the bridal shop in Flushing. I knew you were better then that place and Danny Imperiali. You deserved better. I could tell then what a warm, caring, and loving person you were and I knew you were just what this family needed. And here you are," explained Sara.
"Wow, I can't believe all this. How did you know Max would hire me?" asked a still stunned Fran.
"I knew he would see that sparkle in you," Sara replied. "But I did get a little worried when he fired you the first day," she laughed.
"Yeah, we always didn't see eye to eye. He can be so stubborn sometimes," Fran smiled as she thought back on her first day.
"I can't thank you enough for what you have done for our children," continued Sara.
"Our children?" questioned Fran.
"Yes, Fran, our children. They are every much yours as they are mine now. You have done such a wonderful job raising them. I am so proud of what they have grown into. That is thanks to you, you know," smiled Sara.
"Oh, thank you Sara. But I didn't do much. I was just there for them and loved them. I really do love those children as if they were mine," said Fran.
"And they love you, too...very much. This family loves and needs you Fran," expressed Sara. "And just look what you have done for Max."
Fran shrugged again. "I didn't do anything special. He had a broken heart, I just did the best I could to put it back together."
"That's exactly what I hoped you would do. Don't you see? I didn't just send you here to take care of the children. Oh, I knew you could do that, but I was even more worried about Max," Sara said.
"I appreciate you telling me all this, but I just don't know if I can live up to your expectations. I mean, Max had this whole life with you," Fran indicated the pictures and letters that were now scattered on the floor. "I missed out on all of that."
"So what? So the kids are genetically mine and not yours. Who celebrated with Maggie after her first kiss? Not me. You did. Who knew just how to handle it when Brighton got in trouble for smoking? You. Who helped Grace come out of her shell? You. I didn't do any of those things." Sara said.
"I was the nanny; it was my job," Fran said. "They needed a mother, and I was the closest thing around."
Sara sighed. She hadn't expected this conversation to be so difficult. Fran seemed determined to downplay the effect she'd had on this family. But Sara had one last trick up her sleeve that just might make Fran understand. "Before I go, I want you to do something for me."
"What?" Fran asked.
"I want you to read something I wrote in my diary. Check the entry for April 5th. I wrote
it a few days after I brought Gracie home from the hospital," Sara said.
Fran gave Sara a confused look, but she picked up the diary and proceeded to find the page.
As Fran found the page she began to read.
Dear Diary,
I am so blessed to now have three beautiful children. I love them so much and they are the lights of my life. I can't image my life without them, or without Maxwell.
But if anything were to ever happen to me, I only hope that they would be strong and be there for each other. I know it would be hard at first, but I'd hope they would be ok. I would only want them to move past their grief and be happy. And I would also hope one day Maxwell would find a new love who would be loving and supporting to him and our children. I know Maxwell will need that pillar of strength to guide him.
Fran stopped reading there. She was just trying to process all that she had just read.
Sensing Fran's confusion Sara said, "See Fran, Maxwell has found that special person. I am happy that you two are getting married."
For probably the first time in her entire life, Fran Fine was speechless. "I-I don't know what to say!" she gasped.
Sara smiled. She knew she had finally broken through to Fran. "When I wrote that, I was just a young mother looking ahead to the future. I had no way of knowing that my words would come true so soon."
"How could you have?" Fran asked. "It was a freak accident."
"I know, and I would give almost anything to take that day back. But since I obviously can't do that, the best I can hope for now is to have my family find a way to be happy," Sara replied.
"I really am touched by all this," Fran admitted. "But I've got to tell you, I'm still not sure I can do it. I've never been a wife before! Just from reading all this stuff, it seems like you were the perfect wife. Like Donna Reed or something."
Sara burst out laughing. "What, you think I never had doubts? Look, you're going to make mistakes along the way. You and Maxwell will probably fight sometimes. In fact, seeing your family, I would say you two are going to fight quite a bit! But I promise you, marrying him will all be worth it."
Fran let out a relieved sigh. Now she knew she could make mistakes, and still be OK.