All familiar characters belong to Janet. Mistakes are mine alone.
"Gamba!" Olivia shouted, after I'd opened our door and gestured Frank inside.
He knew he'd never reach her if he didn't give Gunner and Ammo a head-scratch or a treat first. He did both, producing two oversized dog treats that I bet came from Edna's kitchen and gave them each a pat on the head before they took off. Grandma Mazur and Ella have a subtle competition going to see whose dog bones will be more appreciated by our boys. Cat treats are proving to be a harder sell. Ahumado hasn't been open to bribery, and cats are far more particular in what they will deem acceptable offerings from humans.
Frank didn't have time to enjoy having a little personal space again, Olivia was quick to invade it and gave his leg a hug.
"There's my little Olive. Grandpa needed his daily dose of this face," he said, cupping his hands around her cheeks to emphasize his words.
She gave him a smile that showed off every baby tooth she possesses before she let him go to see what he'd given her dogs. Mado ventured out of our bedroom to see what all the noise was about, but turned right back around when she decided this had nothing to do with her. She flicked just the tip of her tail the entire way back to her nap spot.
"For a homeless girl who should be grateful she was rescued," Steph said to me, also watching our cat's interest turn to dismissal in the blink of our eyes, "she always makes me feel like we need to be thanking her for something, not the other way around. I'm not used to that. Gunny and Mo are always happy and always grateful, though I admit ... Rex doesn't give a crap about anything beyond his food dish."
"She could be taking a page out of what you're teaching Julie and Olivia, and Mado just knows her worth and isn't settling for less than she thinks she deserves."
My wife came close enough to wrap her arms around me for a brief hug. "I know you're kidding, but I want them never to doubt that they deserve everything … our pets are no exception."
"Speaking of strays, what's going on with that Atlas kid?" Frank asked us. "I couldn't sleep and thought I'd try out the gym just for some new scenery. He looked like he was punching his way into exhaustion."
"As long as he was hitting a bag and not one of my men," I told him, "then he's alright. Not unlike you've done recently, he's trying to work through a life-altering decision."
"And we're hoping he's as fearless as you were, Dad, and make a change for the better."
"Bedda," Olivia repeated, coming back into the kitchen and seizing on the word she recognized.
"That's right, little mockingbird," Steph said, bending in half to kiss the part in our daughter's French braids, "we want everybody to always feel better than they have been."
"I kizzes," she said, tilting her head back to get a lip-smack from her Mama.
"Your kisses do make Mama and Daddy feel better, but I don't know if that'll work on Uncle Atlas. He's a tough nut to crack."
"Quack 'em!"
"That's the spirit. We'll quack some sense into him," Steph agreed.
"As Edna would say, she's you all over again," Mr. Plum noted, watching his daughter and granddaughter's interaction.
"Lord help us all if she is," Steph replied, "if we're repeating Grandma Mazur comments. What's your day looking like?"
"I thought first off I'd venture out and get some takeout from that restaurant around the corner. Your grandmother was griping about always cooking for us and I thought I'd surprise her with something that won't put her or Ella out. Can I get you guys anything?"
Steph shook her head. "We can't cheat on Ella like that. She's been a Superhero during this pandemic and I know she'll be hurt if we eat around."
"You're using the no-contact delivery option?" I asked him.
In my world, safety will always be more important than a variety in meals.
"Yeah," he assured me. "My nose isn't up for another swab-spelunking exercise."
"The alternative would be worse," I reminded him.
"I know. I'm being careful. I don't want to risk what I have."
I nodded. He wouldn't be living in my building if he answered differently.
"We'll be harassing the guys down on five today if you want to stop in when you get back," my wife told him.
"That would have your grandmother taking her breakfast to go. It's worrisome how much she enjoys time with the men."
Steph nodded. "Olive's the same way. Give her a few RangeUncles paying attention to her and she's one happy girl."
An unexpected grin broke out on his face. "Olive does appear to be happy here."
My eyes went flat when I looked at him. "Appears to be?"
Frank met my eyes and swallowed. "I mean is happy here, no question about it."
I gave him a brief nod of agreement. "You want to stay for some coffee?"
"Just a cup. I wanted an Olive smile to carry with me today, and also to ask about Atlas. That boy is troubled."
"That would be a major understatement," Steph said, "but we have hope for him … once he cools off a little."
"Since you're here," I said to Frank, "I've spoken with your lawyer …"
"Seriously?" My wife asked. "Arlen is your almost brother-in-law, I think you can just say 'Arlen called me'."
"You sound like my mother. I act professionally and am accused of being too formal."
She squeezed my jaw in a threatening manner. "Lucky for you, I love your Mom or those would've been fighting words."
She used her hold to pull me into a kiss. Since her father is only feet away from us, I fought to keep our lip-press relatively innocent when my mind is anything but.
"I'm glad you two are so comfortable with each other, but this is a little too much before breakfast," Frank said.
"According to Tank, we're actually worse on a full stomach," Steph replied, pulling back and sliding her arm around me for another hug before slowly releasing me to get her father seated.
Olivia had disappeared into the living room while I was pouring my wife and father-in-law each a cup of coffee. I understood why when she returned to crawl up onto her Mama's lap with a fish in her hand fom the game I got for her.
"I gotz a fissy, Gamba," she told him, making the wooden fish-shaped cutout jump on the table.
"She's gotten good at catching them," Steph said proudly, "at least the game kind. I don't think fish living in the ocean have anything to worry about, though."
"Then we'll have to have this one mounted, won't we?" My father-in-law said to us. "I know I'd hang it up in my apartment."
"Would you like that, Olive? Grandpa Plum putting your toy on his wall so he has something fun to look at? Or do you want to keep this guy with his fishy friends?"
Her gears turn as fast as Stephanie's do. We can see that she's seriously weighing making her grandfather happy or keeping her fish family together. The ends of the purple ribbons braided into her hair, bobbed as she nodded when she'd reached her decision.
"Gamba have," she told him, kissing the wood fish on its lips before pushing it across the table towards him.
"Thank you," he replied in a surprisingly solemn tone. "I promise I'll take good care of him."
"Uv 'em." She abruptly tipped her head back again and got a spare kiss from Steph before she scooted off her legs and ran down the hall towards the front door.
"Looks like she's ready to head out," I noted. "I'll make this quick because she won't be patient for long. Arlen believes your divorce will become final at anytime within the next two weeks. If you want to change anything you've agreed to give Helen, you don't have much time to alter your conditions."
"I'm not changing anything. I don't mind her keeping the house, it's always been more hers than mine …"
"Dad ..." Steph started to say.
"I don't mean it like that. I'm glad to be living my own life. If your mother staying in that house gets me my freedom with zero guilt, it's a sacrifice I don't mind making. Same with spousal support. This divorce isn't about revenge, it's about moving on. I always believed the only way I'd be leaving our home would be on a stretcher, it's been something living outside it."
"Good something? Or a painful something?" My wife asked.
He held up his new fish to lend truth to his words. "All good. After I have breakfast with Edna, I think we'll be going to spend some time with Valerie and the girls. I need to spread the grandpa-time around so no one feels left out."
"Yeah, I don't want Val to accuse me of hogging you again. When traveling across town was a danger on a Mom and virus front, spending all your time with us was explainable. Val is having none of that now. I wouldn't be surprised if she's logging my/her hours into a notebook to make sure she doesn't get shortchanged."
"It's hard being so loved," I deadpanned.
"No, it's been surprisingly easy. Too easy it feels at times," Frank admitted.
"You do the work, you get the reward," I reminded him.
Seeing me pick Olivia up into my arms after she got impatient with waiting and came back to personally escort us to the front door, is just one example of what he gets to look forward to everyday here. He's lost the heaviness that was Helen, which has been replaced with the sense of weightlessness Olivia's smiles always inspire.
"I'd better get moving," he said, standing up and putting his mug in the sink.
"Us too," Steph said before upping her volume. "Gunny! Mo! You snooze, you lose the chance to go downstairs!" She turned to give Frank a one-armed hug and a shoulder squeeze. "We'll give you a three-second head start. And tell Val to call me tonight."
"Will do," he replied, kissing Olivia's head and shaking my hand before he left our place.
"Okay, Olive. Help Mama count to three. One …"
"Wawn."
"Two."
"Tooz."
"Three."
"Twee."
"And down to five we all go," she said, opening the front door and letting the boys go ahead of us to the door for the stairs.
If there weren't doors needed in order to gain access to the next flight of stairs, Mo and Gunny would have run down to the lobby and back up to seven three times by the time we made it to five. Olivia has reached the age where she wants to look at and ask about everything … from a scuff on the wall to the tread on the stairs. She also likes to show her independence by walking down each step herself, but still holding onto mine and Steph's hands.
Needless to say, my ladies' pace isn't as efficient as mine, but these slowed-down moments have become some of my favorites. Any restlessness I may feel at not adhering to a strict schedule, evaporates as I watch my baby's lamb sneaker light up when it touched the step below her. I feel even more in awe when she stuck the tip of her tongue out in concentration as she brought her left lamb-foot back to join the right one before repeating the process when she moved to tackle the next step.
"We made it!" Steph said at the door leading to the fifth floor, not faking the excitement if I'm reading her correctly.
Even with regular testing and staggered quarantine-shifts, we have kept ourselves mostly to ourselves on Seven out of extreme caution. Four years ago, I would have worked non-stop myself to keep the risk to my people at a minimum. Now, there's no way in hell I'm going to lose my family in any way that can be prevented, making today's excursion outside our apartment similar to a field trip.
"Oben ub!" Olivia shouted, smacking the fifth-floor door in her signature style.
"Should we open it, Olive? Or wait for an Uncle?" Steph asked.
"Be de oben."
Having the order given, I waited until Steph had our daughter's hand back in hers before I signaled to Gunner and Ammo to stay and then opened the door.
"We'd bead here'd!" Our baby informed the control room.
"Brace yourself, Guys, we're about to release the beasts," Steph teased, letting Olivia let go of her, while I gave the hand command for her dogs to follow after her.
"Back off, Santos," Bobby said, shoving him to the side so he could intercept my daughter. "She's clearly running to me."
"Olive is running solely for the sake of running," my wife informed him. "We'll be here for a little while so you'll all get dog licks and Olive hugs before we go back upstairs. Our daughter is pretty sick of us and wants new people to play with, and Ranger and I wanted to check on Atlas. My Dad told us he was punching his way through his problems in the gym."
"He grabbed some coffee and said he'd be back in an hour," Vince told me.
"He look okay?" I asked, knowing the men are almost as good as I am at detecting an impending explosion.
I would have already received a call if he appeared upset or the men were worried he was close to the edge, but I had to ask anyway.
"Yeah," Tank answered for Vince, making a beeline for my wife and I until he saw Olivia spot him.
"Od Ank!" She yelled, pivoting so fast in his direction when Brown released her, the love bug embroidered on her shirt could have taken flight.
"There's my girl," he said, hunching down as close to her height as it's possible for a man his size to get.
Her and her T-shirt bug did mimic flight as he swung her up and shot a glare at any of the guys who were trying to lure her their way with a toy or one of her dogs. Tank sat her on his shoulders so she could see the entire room, but she surprised him by bending her head over his, christening him with a loud lip-smack to the middle of his forehead.
"I mizzes Ank kizzes."
I know exactly what he's feeling, so I took pity on him and diverted the attention away from him and back to our men.
"You said Atlas is alright?" I asked.
He shrugged, causing Olivia to laugh as she went up and down along with his shoulders. "He worked it out, by working out. Seemed tired but more in control of his thoughts when he left the bag."
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Stephanie's features rearrange into an expression that had me instantly on alert.
"I know what could help Atlas," she said, never taking her eyes off Tank.
"Babe, no," I warned.
"Why?"
"Because their personal lives are just that … personal. We only involve ourselves in their business when it involves us."
"I wasn't going to meddle, just suggest that two guys who are hesitant in letting anyone in, maybe consider a triple-couple date-dinner with us so we can help and support them, yet they can still give their women - who seem to be sticking it out - the acknowledgement and attention they deserve."
