Francis went home at ten the next morning.
He knocked on the door for hours, but Arthur refused to let him in.
"Arthur! Cher! Mon amour!" he called. "Please open ze door! Just let explain!"
"No! Go away!"
"But cher!"
"Stop calling me that! Go back to Paris already!"
"At least let me see mes garcons!"
"They aren't yours! They're in my custody! And only mine! We aren't married and I always suspected that this might happen so I have full custody and you have none! You've always just been the man 'Dad' fights with and used to love!"
The words stabbed Francis's heart like a knife.
"Don't say zat cher! You still love me! I know you do! I still love you too! Just open ze door and I can make you understand!"
"No! It's not going to work, frog! It's over!"
Francis knew that Arthur had moved away from the door but he was frozen to the spot.
Eventually he managed to get off the front porch and into Antonio's car.
The Spaniard had let him borrow his car when he had decided to beg outside his house.
He sat in the car and tried to decide where to go.
According to his watch it was almost three.
Almost time for pre-school to let out.
If he couldn't see Arthur, he needed to see his kids.
Alfred and Matthew were playing together on the lawn while they waited.
Francis parked a little way away and got out.
He had almost reached his kids when they saw him approaching.
"Papa!" they yelled happily and ran towards him.
Francis smiled warmly and kneeled down with his arms spread.
The boys threw themselves at him and he hugged them tightly.
All three were smiling and laughing until the happy picture was shattered by a teacher appearing.
"Excuse me, sir? May I talk to you?"
Francis looked up at her and nodded.
He followed the woman into her classroom with his boys trailing behind him.
She stopped and faced the boys.
"Alfred? Matthew?"
"Yes Miss Angela?"
"Could you wait in the hall for a few minutes?"
"But we wanna be with Papa!" Alfred whined.
The teacher bent down until she was on-level with the pouting boy.
"Alfred. It is very important that I talk to your 'Papa'. Can you stay here and guard the door?"
Alfred nodded.
"Yeah!" he yelled.
"What will I do Miss Angela?" Matthew asked quietly.
"You can help your brother." She tussled his hair and he laughed. "Make sure you protect Kuma."
Matthew's eyes widened at the thought of someone stealing his bear and clutched it tightly.
The teacher smiled at them before standing up.
She turned back to Francis.
"Shall we go in?"
Francis nodded again and walked into the classroom.
"Please have a seat." The teacher pointed to set of chairs.
"D'accord."
Francis sat down on a tiny chair and waited patiently.
"Are you really those boys' father?" she demanded suddenly.
"Oui. Zose are mes fils."
The teacher was watching him.
"Then are you Arthur's partner? He's told me about you at our meetings. He said you were French and a very good cook."
Francis felt guilty.
He hadn't known about any conferences.
"He also said that you were very busy so he would attend the meetings alone." She took a breath and smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet to you. I'm Miss Angela and I teach your sons. I've wanted to meet you for a long time."
"Merci. I have wanted to meet ze person teaching mes fils. I'm-"
"FRANCIS!"
Arthur burst into the room, face red with anger.
"Bonjour cher."
"Don't start that again!" he raged. "Do you remember what I told you this morning at all!"
"Oui."
"Then why are you here? I told you that Alfred and Matthew are MY sons! Not yours!"
"Zen why do zey call me 'Papa'?"
"Because that's what we told them! Back when we believed we'd be together forever!"
"I still believe zat!"
"Well stop! I want you out of our lives! I want you gone!"
"I don't! You don't know all of ze facts! If you would just listen I could explain it to you!"
"I've listened to you for years! I'm done with it! I'm done with you!"
Arthur broke out into angry tears again.
"Cher. I don't want to be done with you. Je t'aime! Je t'aime, Arthur! Je t'aime avec mon entier coeur! Doesn't zat mean anyzing?"
Arthur shook his head.
"Not anymore."
Francis slumped to his knees.
Arthur turned to the teacher.
"Good afternoon Miss Angela. I see you've met Francis. However, he's no longer a part of our lives so it doesn't matter. I'm sorry you had to see such a scene but he won't leave us alone. Would it be okay if Alfred and Matthew waited in here until I can pick them up?" He shot a look at Francis. "I don't want them to get distracted."
The teacher stared at him for a moment before nodding.
"Thank you. I shall be taking them home now."
Arthur walked out of the room and picked up his sons.
"Where are we going Daddy?" Alfred asked.
"Home."
"Why isn't Papa coming with us?"
"I've told you before. He's no longer welcome."
Arthur carried the boys all the way back to the car and buckled them into their car seats.
He climbed into the driver's seat and started the car.
"Daddy?"
"What is it Matthew?"
"I miss Papa. I want to see him."
"Me too!" Alfred called. "Can't you stop fighting with him?"
Arthur turned around in his seat to face the boys.
"I know you love Francis, but he did something that I can't forgive him for. I don't want to see him anymore."
The boys stared at him sadly.
"Can he visit us if you're not around?"
Arthur felt hurt that his kids would rather be with Francis than him.
"Do you want me to drop you off at Antonio's house and you can stay with Francis?"
The boys' faces brightened.
"Could we Daddy?"
Arthur tried to conceal his hurt feelings.
"Of course. If you consider him your father, why don't you just stay with him?"
Alfred and Matthew's eyes widened.
"What did we do Daddy?"
Arthur turned around and wiped his eyes.
"Nothing. I'll just take you to Antonio's house and leave you there."
The boys looked at each other before unbuckling their seatbelts and climbing up to Arthur.
"Don't cry Daddy! We love you too!"
They hugged him tightly and started crying too.
AN: Oh no! Arthur finally got through to Francis! He's crushed!
D: You didn't have to be that mean Arthur. Francis isn't very strong. Emotionally or otherwise.
And the boys still love him and want to be around him! What is Arthur going to do about that?
We'll see soon! I have to finish writing the next chapter and then we'll know!
See ya then!