While Pierre and Fran's relationship continued to blossom, Maxwell was more unhappy than ever. He tried so hard, at least in his eyes, to reach out to the kids, but all they did was continue to push him away. It was as if Miss Fine had been the glue that kept the family together, and now they were all unraveling at the seams.

He walked in one morning to a room full of teary eyed children. They were apparently watching old home videos of their mother, something they would often do with Miss Fine. But somehow whenever she was there, the kids would be smiling, not crying. He had to do something, but what, he hadn't the foggiest.

"She was a special woman, your mother." Maxwell smiled weakly as he sat down next to Maggie and took her hand. To his shock, she squeezed it rather than pulling away as he'd anticipated.

"Do I...do I really remind you of her?" Maggie asked.

"My God, Margaret, you grow more and more like her by the day. You're becoming a young woman, and I only wish..."

They all knew what he was going to say, but they needed to hear it. They wanted to hear him talk about Sara, and how important she had been to the family.

"I only wish she could be with us to see the beautiful young woman you've turned into. I have no doubt she would be quite proud of you. She'd be so proud of all of you, you know."

"Even Brighton?" Gracie deadpanned.

Maxwell smiled. "Even Brighton. Especially Brighton. I know that..."

"What, daddy?" Gracie encouraged. "Please tell us what you were going to say."

"I know that I haven't exactly been father of the year. I know that your mother would be ashamed of how far I've pulled back from you children. Please know that it's not because I don't love you. I love you kids more than anything in this world. It's just that, after losing your mother, well, I guess I learned to bury my feelings."

"Is that why you couldn't tell her?" Maggie asked.

"I told your mother every day how much she meant to me."

Maggie sighed. "Is that why you couldn't tell Fran how much she meant to you?"

He pulled out his picture of Fran and stared at it for a few minutes. "Perhaps."

"Why, Daddy? Why didn't you see how much Fran loved you? If you had we'd all be here laughing instead of sitting around crying. I"m only nine years old but I know that Fran loved you, Daddy!" Gracie spoke up.

"Kids, love is complicated. You can't just go around using those words lightly. When I say them I want to make sure I mean them."

Brighton stared angrily at his father. "Well you made sure you'd never have to say them to Fran! You pushed her away when all she did was love us and love you?! Why didn't you love her, Dad? She didn't do anything wrong? I think Mom would be happy someone loved you the way she did."

"It's called a self-fulfilling prophecy." Gracie spoke up. "daddy was so sure everyone he loves would go away he made sure that happened with Fran."

"I think I may be paying your therapist too much. Aren't you supposed to be speaking about yourself, not analyzing me?"

"don't you see, Daddy? Your actions do affect us. By throwing away Fran you're preventing yourself from getting close to us kids again. We're growing up, Daddy. We still need you. All we ever wanted was to be loved. And Fran did that, from the beginning."

"And you're saying I don't love you?" Maxwell scoffed.

"You don't know how to show us you love us. Not the way Mommy did. Not the way Fran did. You was growing too close to Fran. That's why she had to leave. You pushed her away Daddy."

Now all the kids were crying. "Gracie's right. You're so scared to love again that you threw away the best thing to happen to the family since Mom. At first I was mad at you. Now I feel sorry for you. I only want you to be loved, the way we love you."

Maxwell was now visibly teary eyed. "I love you, children. More than you can ever know."

Brighton tried to pretend not to care, he was trying to become a man after all. "Does this mean Fran's coming back?"

"It means I love you, son. And that's a bloody good place to start, don't you think?"

And with that, for the first time since Fran's disappearance, the whole family embraced. Niles walked by and took notice. She would have been so proud, he thought to himself. Not wanting the family to notice the tears that had formed in his eyes, he headed straight to the kitchen, where he started to prepare a chocolate cheesecake- one of Sylvia's favorites. It was time to get this family back together again.

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Fran was by now spending most of her time at Pierre's place. It felt so good, so freeing, not to have to hide her feelings. She could be affectionate when she wanted to, sulk when the mood hit, and laugh out loud whenever she found something funny. Pierre would indulge her in letting her take comfort in old l Love Lucy reruns. There was something about Lucy's and Ricky's relationship that made Fran feel better, even if she didn't understand why.

"Good night, Fran. I love you," Pierre declared one night as he turned off the lights.

"I love you too Mr. Sheffield.."

Mr. Sheffield? Pierre didn't watch enough I love Lucy to recognize the name, but he hoped for Fran's sake that he was just a character on the show. For his sake as well. If not, he had a sinking feeling that this relationship might not last.