"Sir, I don't think that's really--" Niles began to say as the door flew open. "Necessary." Seeing that he was clearly intruding, he added, "I think I'll just go make sure the children don't get into too much trouble."
With that, the butler left the three of them alone. "What are you doing here?" Danny demanded of Max.
"Getting rid of you!" Max replied angrily. "You just can't take 'no' for an answer, can you?"
"Max, I can handle this," Fran said.
"Max?" Danny asked. "Wait, is he --?" A lightbulb seemed to go on inside his head as he finally figured out who this new guy in Fran's life was.
"That's right, Fran and I are a couple," Max stated. Danny turned to Fran.
"What would you want him for? You and me, we had some good times back in that bridal shop."
"No, Danny, YOU had good times in the bridal shop. The only trouble was, none of them were with me!" Fran retorted.
"You're gonna bring that back up again!" Danny asked, offended. "Heather means nothing to me, I swear!" He crossed his heart.
"Let me get this straight," said Fran. "You expect me to give up a man who truly loves me, to get back together with YOU?"
"Yeah!" said Danny, not seeing what the problem was.
"You're totally meshugeh, you know that!" Fran asked.
"What a minute, are you throwing me out?" Danny asked.
"I guess so," Fran said as Max opened the door.
"Fine, you don't want me! But there are a LOT of women who'd cut off their right arms to be with Danny Imperiali!" Danny exclaimed as he walked out the door.
"Are you OK?" Maxwell asked with a concerned look on his face.
"Oh, yeah I'm fine. Danny's the one who needs help," Fran laughed.
"Let's forget about him, hmm. We have to go out and celebrate your success, " Maxwell said then kissed Fran lightly on the lips. " Now, we better get going. You know how your mother gets if she has to wait too long for food."
"Believe me you don't have to tell me. I'm the one that grew up with the woman remember," Fran laughed. "Just give me a minute to change and I'll be right out, OK?"
"No problem, darling," Maxwell said as he gave Fran a quick kiss on the cheek before exiting the room.
AN: Coming to the home stretch folks! Only a few chapters left!