Three days later, at around noon, Franklin was at the park playing fetch with Chop when his phone rang. "Ay, Mike, whassup?"

"Hey, Frank. How 'bout you come 'round this evening for dinner? Amanda's makin' somethin' special and she'd- I mean WE would like you to join the family." Michael offered.

"Hell yeah, man, sounds good!" Franklin responded.

"Great! Come by in a few hours. Later." Michael then hung up.


At around 17:00, Franklin rode his bike up to the De Santa residence in an olive long-sleeved dress shirt, dark blue jeans, and white sneakers. He removed his helmet and walked up to the door to ring the bell.

"Hey, man!" Michael greeted with a hug.

"Ay, what's crackin', Mikey? How y'all doin'?" Franklin asked as the two parted and went inside.

"Great, man! Just great! God, it's been so fuckin' good!" Michael responded happily.

"Ay, good lookin', bro, glad to hear that."

"Now, you take a seat on the couch and I'll grab you a beer." Michael offered as he went to the kitchen.

"Hey, babe." Amanda greeted as she prepaired the meal.

"Hey, gorgeous." Michael replied as he kissed her on the cheek and patted her butt. "Dinner comin' up good?"

Amanda chuckled. "Almost ready."

Michael returned to the couch with two bottles of beer, handing one of them to Franklin. "There y'are, man."

"Ay, thanks, homie." Franklin thanked Michael, who then walked to the stairs.

"Jim! Trace! Dinner!" Michael shouted up, before returning and sitting beside Franklin.

"So, what's been goin' on, man?" Franklin asked.

"Well me and Mand have been talkin'. A lot. Mostly about the family, and about you and Trevor." Michael answered vaguely.

"So, does she know you're retired again? For good this time?"

Michael sipped his beer. "Yup. And she's real content with that these days. Which is more than fine with me. Hell, we all know that I'm ageing beyond my years; any more of this nonsense'll end up killin' me one o' these days. Gonna... try and be here for my family now. Even when I was retired the first time, I just spent most of my time on my own; I didn't realise what I'd had, but I'm gonna make up for it as much as possible now. Try and be a man for once in my life, ya get me?"

"Shit, man, I hear that. But you sure you can now?" Franklin asked.

"Whaddya mean?"

"Well, Jimmy might act like one, but he ain't a kid no mo'. and your daughter's even older than him, right?" Franklin asked, to which michael nodded his head. "So, I guess... what I'm tryin' to say is... Okay, say that your kids are... clay. The younger they are, the easier they are to shape and change into whatever you want 'em to be... But, when they get old enough, they'll dry out and become more rigid, and there'll be a point where you can no longer re-shape them in the right ways... and whatever's in their head will stay there, and they'll live the rest of their adult lives in the way you molded them..." Franklin explained with his analogy. "You feel me?... Ah shit, man, I know that don't make sense, but-"

Michael put his hand up. "Nah, nah, I think I get what you're gettin' at; I only have so much time to raise them the right way before they're stuck the way they are, and I've now potentially run out of time to make a good change?"

Franklin hesitate. "Well... maybe not for the most part, but I guess 'some' changes can be made, like gettin' them to like you more or somethin'."

Michael chuckled. "You got a... lackluster way with words, Frank, but you got a big heart. Don't change that for no-one."

Amanda then came around the corner of the wall. "Well I thought it was an interesting speech, Franklin." She said with a smirk, prompting the two men to stand up.

"Ah, Frank, meet my darling wife - the love of my life - Amanda." Michael introduced with a smile.

Amanda rolled her eyes before extending her hand to Franklin with a smile. "We've met briefly before, but I'm sure we can make it official this time."

Franklin shook Amanda's hand. "Hi, Mrs. De Santa, you got a great home here." He complimented, trying to mask his slight nervousness.

"Oh, excuse me for a moment." Amanda said with a smile before going to the stairs. "KIDS! Down! NOW!"

As the three waited a few seconds at the stairs, Jimmy was heard booming at Tracey. "Asshole!"

"Loser!" Tracey replied as she got down the stairs. "Jimmy's just putting on his pants - urgh!"

"Have you met Tracey, Frank?" Michael asked quietly.

"Uhh, no." Franklin answered.

"Oh, are we having guests over or something?" Tracey asked her parents with slight surprise.

"Trace, this is Franklin - my loyal friend." Michael said with a small but proud smile, making Amanda look at him with slightly wide eyes due to the way he'd described him.

"Oh- ooh, hi." Tracey greeted Franklin as she got to the bottom of the stairs. "Nice to meet you."

Tracey politely held out her hand, but with her palm facing the ground, prompting Franklin to awkwardly take her hand gently and kiss the back of it. As she did this, Michael and Amanda noticed Tracey's coy smile and how she looked into Franklin's eyes. Michael wasn't sure if she was just being coy, or if she was actually becoming rather shy around Franklin; she's not usually shy. Franklin's eyes then darted around, back and forth to Tracey's parents, with a look as if to say 'Well what was I supposed to do?'

Luckily, Jimmy broke the tension by descending the stairs as well. "Ayy, Franklin - what's up, holmes!" Jimmy greeted warmly in his goofy way.

Franklin gave Jimmy a bro-hug. "Ay, dawg, what's crackin'?"

"Well, I'll prepare the plates on the dinner table. Make yourself at home, Franklin." Amanda said as she went to the dining area by the kitchen.

"Thanks, Mrs. De Santa."

"Amanda turned back with a friendly smile. "Call me Amanda, stupid."

As Amanda returned to the kitchen, Franklin let out a huffed chuckle. "Damn..."

"Yup. I married that one right there." Michael tapped Franklin's shoulder.


The five sat around the table and ate their meal, with Franklin seeming to particularly enjoy it. "So, how's your meal, Frank?" Michael asked.

"Man, it's good! I mean, I ain't never had it before, but it's good, man. Hell, I bet it'd be expensive in a restaurant, though."

"Well I guess it's a good thing I made it then, huh? I'm glad you like it." Amanda told Franklin.

"Thanks, I'm glad you made it." Franklin told Amanda.

"So, what's been goin' on with you, F?" Jimmy asked.

"I've mostly been chillin' out lately. Been hangin' around with THIS crazy guy right here." Franklin gestured towards Michael, making him and Jimmy smirk. "Other than that, been spendin' time wit' my dawg, Chop. He's one of the most loyal friends I got, but thank God he ain't the only one." Franklin added, which Michael appreciated.

"Oh, how nice - you have a dog. What breed is he?" Amanda asked curiously.

"My boy's a rottweiler. And he's one goofy one, too. I guess he'd be what you'd call 'dumb muscle'. My friend Lamar - I've known him maybe twenny years now - he used to own Chop, but he gave him to me, because I was better suited to lookin' after him. But, man, Lamar's always been a dumbass - always callin' me disloyal, when he'd be the one choosin' other niggas over his real homies, then blaming me when he gets into trouble with 'em. Same with my ex, Tanisha. Left me because I wanted to earn money, when we all need money, right? Then, she goes off and marries a damn doctor for the money, like a damn hypocrite. I wanted money for myself AND for her - but nah, she wanted a family, while I thought we was too young for that. Uh, no offence, y'know?"

Amanda was slightly wide-eyed at Franklin's monologue. "Oh, no, I understand perfectly. Seems like you were making the right choices."

"Thanks, I mean, I'm no saint, but I try my best, ya feel me?" Franklin asked.

"How old are you though, honey?" Amanda asked kindly.

"Twenny-five. A bit older than Jimmy." Franklin answered.

"Yeah, Jimmy's only twenty." Michael added.

"But, as soon as that changes, I'll be taggin' along wit'chu boys, amiright?! Yeah!" Jimmy said excitedly.

"Ay, yeah, I didn't think of that - we gotta do somethin' good for J-Dog's twenny-first, right?" Franklin offered.

"Vanilla Unicorn?" Michael teased.

"Michael!..." Amanda butted in.

"Oh, sweet!" Said Jimmy.

Franklin chuckled. "Relax, he's just messin', Amanda."

Amanda sighed and rolled her eyes. "Anyways, how's everything wit'chu, dawg? Still job huntin'?" Franklin asked Jimmy.

Jimmy sighed. "Yeah, still looking, and playing video games in the meantime..."

"And how's the pot habit? You kicked it yet?" Franklin asked.

"Not quite, but I'm getting there. You know how it is."

"Ay, man, slow and steady. That's just how it goes, homie." Franklin said understandingly.

"And what about you, Tracey? I heard from Mike you was goin' off to college." Franklin asked Tracey, who had not said anything at the table and had just been playing with her hair and looking at Franklin's chest and arms.

"Trace. Trace!" Michael got her attention.

"O-Oh! Um. Uh, yeah. College. That's right! I'm finally going places!" Tracey finally answered.

"Well, good for you then! It's somethin' to be proud of, right? Somethin' you earned? That's somethin' money can't buy." Franklin told Tracey, making her smile.

"Hey - see, Trace? What I tell ya? You're movin' to new pastures!" Michael explained.