"Hi Fran! Hi daddy!" Gracie yelled, as she fumbled her way into the front door.
"Oh, sweetie! You've got your hands full!" Fran let go of Max and jumped up from the couch. She hurried over to Gracie to help her set things down, then helped her off with her coat. "What is all this stuff you brought back, angel?"
"Her mom let me borrow a whole bunch of her books! Wasn't that nice?"
"It sure is, sweetie. But what kind of books? Are they appropriate for you?"
"She's pretty sure all of them are okay for me to read. Can I read them? Please?"
"Well, maybe. Why don't you let daddy and me check them out first, okay? We'll see if they look okay. But for now, did you get all your homework done already?"
"Well, I still have to read a couple chapters in my book. But that's no biggie."
"Well, why don't you get all this upstairs and put away, and get to work on that reading, okay? Maggie's finishing hers, too, so make sure you don't bother her. We'll take a look at these books and make sure they're appropriate for you to read."
"Aw, okay."
"So how did everything else go? You have a fun time?"
"Yeah, I did! But we ate so much pizza! I don't think I'll want pizza ever again! Or at least for like a week or something." Fran laughed.
"Aw! Well, maybe we should all have something light for dinner tonight. We'll tell Niles to go easy on us."
"Good idea!" Gracie nodded, then picked up her belongings from the floor and began to head upstairs.
"Remember, don't bother Maggie right now, okay? You can see her at dinner."
"Okay." Fran picked up the bag of paperback books and brought them over to Max at the couch.
"What's all this?" Max asked. "She borrowed all of these? Won't that taker her forever to read all of them?"
"Not necessarily, she reads every day, and if it's a really good book she might try to find a way to not have to go to school, just so she can stay in her room and read. But, yeah, these might take her a couple months. You wanna help me go through them? Make sure there's nothing racy or anything in them?"
"Racy?" Max elbowed her and grinned.
"Hey, don't get your hopes up. These probably aren't those kind of books. But if you want racy, I have a few paperbacks upstairs in my room…" she grinned, and Max laughed. They both picked out books from the bag, and Fran set the bag next to her on the couch. They settled against each other and began flipping through the pages, looking for swear words or intimate conversations or scenes, or anything that seemed violent. When they finished with one, they reached for another and repeated the scanning until they had gone through every book.
"Nothing racy?" Max asked.
"Nope. I guess they should be okay for her to read, don't you think?"
"Yes, they seem innocent enough. At least from the bits I read." Fran took the last book from him and put it back in the bag, then set the bag on the table in front of them just as Brighton rushed in the door with his friend.
"Hi! I'm back! We're just going to my room so he can borrow some of my video games!"
"Okay!" Fran called after him. "Well, last kid. I wonder if Niles came back yet?"
"I'm sure he'll turn up if he has." A few minutes later, Brighton came back down with his friend, games in tow. He said goodbye, then shut the door behind him.
"So, B- come here!" Fran called to him, turning around on the couch. Max turned to look over at him, too. "So how was your sleepover?" Brighton walked over to them in the living room.
"It was pretty good. We ate a ton and stayed up late, and I beat the crap out of him in Mario Kart!" They all laughed.
"Well that's good to hear, I'm glad you had fun. Hey- did you get all your homework done?"
"Uh… well, I still have a little."
"How much is a little?"
"Just some worksheets to do. Shouldn't take me long. I can do them tonight."
"Now, Brighton," Max said. "Don't put them off until tonight. If you don't finish them before you have to go to bed, you'll be pretty unhappy. And so will we."
"Aw! Do I have to? They aren't real hard."
"B- if they aren't so hard, then it shouldn't take you long to get them out of the way, right? You can finish them before dinner, and then you can watch TV tonight. Why don't you head up and get started. And don't bug your sisters, okay? They're both getting theirs done, too. It would be nice to have a family meal with everyone, and not have any homework hanging over anybody, okay?"
"Oh, fine. I'll go work on it. Hey, do you know what we're having for dinner? We kinda had a ton of pizza, even the leftovers today when we got up."
"Don't tell me- you aren't so hungry. Don't worry, I think everyone pigged out this weekend. We'll let Niles know not to make anything heavy."
"Okay, great! I mean, I'll eat, but just not like last night. That was a lot!" Max chuckled, and then Brighton ran to the stairs and headed up to his room.
"Now- back to you…" Fran said, and reached for Max's hands and cuddled up with him again. They went back to watching television, laughing here and there at the jokes on the old sitcom. After one show ended and another began, they continued watching, enjoying each other's company and especially enjoying getting accustomed to such close contact with each other.
A funny scene happened on the show they were watching, and suddenly it reminded them both of the same thing, a moment from their past. They looked at each other and burst out laughing. They curled up against each other, laughing so much that both of them could barely breathe. Fran tried to speak, which only sent them into further fits of giggles.
"What on earth is going on out here?" Niles asked, as he came into the living room to see what the commotion was. Fran and Max shook their heads and continued giggling and struggling for breath. "My goodness, I go out for a little while to get groceries, and I come back and I've missed everything! Come on, please tell me! Was it a joke? Was it about Ms. Babcock?" He asked, pleading.
Max tried to regain some composure, then looked at Fran, and they started laughing again. "Inside joke!" Max squeaked, then Fran shoved him and they fell into giggles again.
"Oh come on, you can tell me! Please?!"
"Long story, Niles," Fran gasped. Max ran his hand down over his eyes and face, trying to settle himself, and Fran dabbed at the corners of her eyes, making sure her makeup wasn't smearing.
"Well, fine then. I was just going to ask you if you had any preferences for dinner. I was going to see if I needed to start preparing for it yet or not."
"Oh, Niles," Fran took a deep breath, "It sounds like everybody pigged out pretty seriously this weekend. Can we just have something light for dinner? Salad, maybe?"
"Salad? Of course. Sure, that might be a good idea. I overindulged a bit myself last night. Well, then salad it is. I'll see what I can come up with. Is there anything you two need, now that I'm back?"
"Oh! Niles, can you get us something to drink? I'm parched after that fit," Max said, then looked at Fran, and they giggled again.
"Sure, I suppose I can fetch you some drinks. Don't mind me, I'm just the lonely butler, never gets let in on the inside jokes…" Niles mumbled, as he slumped from the room back towards the kitchen.
"Aw, poor Niles! Maybe we should tell him?" Fran asked Max.
"You want to tell him that whole story? From the beginning?"
"No, not particularly, I was just sayin', you know, if you wanted to… It would be okay with me."
"That's a pretty long story. But you know, it's a hell of a good one. Maybe I should write it down. And you write your version, too, in case I get anything wrong."
"Aw, don't worry about that. I'm sure our memories of the details will change over time. But gosh, that felt so good to laugh like that! That was so good!"
"Wasn't it?!" Max put his arms around her and she hugged him back. "I can't believe they showed that, and that we just happened to catch it when they did. That was perfect."
"Yeah! It was. I'm glad we saw it. And I'm glad we had that whole experience before that gave us the inside joke. Gosh, I'd completely forgotten about that! Oh, man, it was so good to laugh like that! I needed that!"
"Me too!" They both grinned from ear to ear, and took deep breaths to try to settle back down. It was such a rush for them both.
"I hope we have a lot more times like that- where we both know what each other is thinking, and we can laugh about it like that."
"I'm sure we will," Max smiled as he looked into her eyes. They went back to watching the television as they leaned against each other, and then Niles came back out into the living room with their drinks on a tray. He held out the tray towards them, noticed how close they were sitting to each other, and wanted to enjoy it, but he was still peeved that they wouldn't tell him what they were laughing about.
"Thank you, Niles!" Fran said.
"Yes, thank you very much. And I'm sorry about before, it's just a long story and I'm afraid if we tried to explain it all, it wouldn't be funny anymore."
"Yeah, Niles, don't be put out over it, okay?"
"I'll be fine, I'm sure. It's just that I don't have much to laugh about around here, and it would have been nice to feel like I was in on something that humorous. But please, tell me this- if it wasn't about Ms. Babcock, was she there, and did she know about what was so funny?"
"Relax, Niles. She wasn't there, she doesn't know anything about it. But that probably would have been even funnier if she was!" Max said, and started laughing again, making Fran laugh with him. Niles straightened up and got a little huffy as he tucked the tray under his arm. "Oh, come on, Niles, don't be like that. I'm planning to write it all down at some point, maybe it'll hold it's humor that way. It was just a time when Fran and I were out and there was this sort of a scene going on with some other people. Fran was a bit of a distance from me while we were watching it unfold, and we just happened to glance over at each other, and it was like we were having some kind of telepathic conversation with each other, and we instantly knew what the other was thinking. We gave each other these looks, and we were trying really hard not to laugh out loud or let anyone see how we were looking at each other. It was nice, and hilarious. But we couldn't laugh about it until later, when we left. So then, just a little while ago, we were watching this show, and the same sort of thing started to play out between the characters, and it just reminded us of everything before, and the second we looked at each other, it all came rushing back and we just started laughing really hard. It was fantastic. We didn't have to say a word. So it's just that sort of thing, just something she and I can share."
"Yeah, Niles. Don't worry, it wasn't like we're trying to keep something from you. It was just a thing between us, and it's hard to explain it all to other people if they weren't there."
"Well, fine, I get it. I just want you to promise me it had nothing to do with Ms. Babcock, and that she'd have no idea what you were laughing about, either."
"She wouldn't. And just that fact, if she caught us laughing like that, she'd probably be madder than you over it if we didn't tell her."
"Good!" Niles huffed, then turned and walked out of the room and back to the kitchen.
"Poor guy!" They both chuckled, then went back to watching the television, killing time until dinner.
When Niles came back out to the living room later to let Fran and Max know that dinner was ready, Fran volunteered to run upstairs to get the children. Max shut off the television and got up, and followed Niles back in to the kitchen.
"So…" Niles raised his eyebrows at Max. "It looks like things are going in a nice direction for you two…" Max looked over at Niles as he helped pour drinks for everyone.
"What? Oh, yes, well, sure. Laughing like that felt really good."
"I wasn't talking about that, but sure, I'm sure that helps. But I tidied up upstairs earlier, and I noticed that your bed hadn't been slept in, but rather on." Niles was grinning mischievously, and Max felt a wash of heat run over his cheeks.
"So?" Max shifted his posture to standing up straight, on the defensive. He didn't really want to talk about that sort of thing with Niles, at least not yet. He would let Maggie do the telling that night.
"I was just wondering, you know, you two hanging out, watching movies, maybe falling asleep…"
Max picked up several glasses, cleared his throat, and gave Niles a glare, then backed through the door to the dining room.
"I knew it!" Niles whispered to himself. He picked up several glasses and headed into the dining room after Max, and set the drinks at their places on the table. Soon after, they heard the children and Fran coming down the hallway. Brighton hurried into the dining room followed by Gracie, and then by Fran and Maggie- their arms around each other as they walked. As Brighton was about to sit in his usual spot, Maggie spoke up.
"Hey, Brighton? Can I sit there tonight? I want to sit by daddy," she said. Brighton looked at her and Fran, then at their father, then back at her.
"Uh… okay. Whatever. But why?" He switched places, and then everyone took their seats.
"I just want to." Brighton curled an eyebrow at her, but let it go.
"Hey Niles? Grab a plate and sit down with us, won't you?" Max asked.
"Really? Are you sure?" Niles looked over at Brighton, who looked back at him, curious. They both raised their eyebrows at each other.
"Of course, grab the other chair down there."
Niles got himself a plate and silverware and set his place, then sat down at the table with them. They began passing the serving dishes around and quickly filled their plates and began to eat.
"So, Grace, how was your sleepover?" Max asked. "You have a good time?"
"We did! She has a lot of Barbies that I don't have, so we played with those, and we played board games, and we watched Lion King again. And we had chips and snacks and so much pizza! And it was so good!"
"Aw!" Fran said, and patted her shoulder. "I'm glad you had fun, Gracie. What about you, B? What did you guys get into?"
"Oh, mostly video games. That was great- we never have time to play stuff for so long, so getting a chance to do that was awesome. And yeah, we ate tons of pizza too, and chips and popcorn and sodas. So thank you, Niles, for not making heavy stuff like that for dinner tonight." They all chuckled.
"What did you do, Maggie? Did you and Fran hang out?" Gracie asked, and Maggie glanced at Fran and her father. They both nodded to her to go ahead and begin telling the others her story.
"Well, not exactly. This weekend was, uh, kind of crazy." She took a drink of her tea, and the others looked over at her, waiting for her to continue. "So, um, I guess you guys probably know about friday night, right? That I was kind of upset and Fran stayed with me a while in my room?" Gracie nodded, then looked over at Brighton, then he looked back at Maggie. "Well, there was a reason for that. Um, Peter and I broke up." She let that sink in a moment before she continued. "So, yeah, uh, we were supposed to go out to dinner at a restaurant friday night. Well, he stood me up. I was worried something happened to him, so I called his house, then talked to his father. I found out he had gone out to some other restaurant, so I found the number and called over there. The lady I talked to said he was there- but, well… he was there with some other girl."
"Oh man!" Brighton gasped, and Gracie's mouth hung open. Niles was wide-eyed as well, loving the gossip but hating that it was Maggie who had to suffer through it.
"The lady at the restaurant went to get him, I asked her to tell him he had an urgent call, because I figured if he knew it was me he wouldn't come to the phone. And I had to be sure it was him and not some other guy. But it was him. And he was on a date with some other girl. So yeah, I pretty much screamed at him, and then he broke up with me. But you know, if he hadn't said it first, I would have broken it off with him anyway. I was so mad, and he was such a coward not to just talk to me first. Like he wanted to get caught so he wouldn't have to bring it up."
"Peter did that?!" Gracie squealed. "That jerk! Why would he do that to you?"
"I don't know, Gracie. I never thought he'd ever do something like that. But Fran realized what was going on, and she came and stayed with me, so I could yell and cry and all of that, get it all out of my system. But that probably isn't even the biggest part of it."
"What do you mean? He didn't do other stuff, did he? I'm never going to the Gap again, the loser," Brighton huffed.
"Well, yesterday morning, after you guys left, daddy brought me my breakfast, and we had a nice talk for a while. And then Fran came in and said she invited my friends over for a sleepover. She thought it would be good for me to have a crew around me to help me get through it and make me feel better, and it really did help. They all came over and we watched movies and tore Peter to shreds, and pigged out. We had all our sleeping bags in the living room and slept there."
"All your friends were here? Sleeping in the living room? Last night?" Brighton whimpered, and everyone laughed. "Aw, man…" he mumbled, disappointedly.
"But you know what else happened?!" Maggie perked up.
"What?" Brighton and Gracie asked. Even Niles found himself clinging to her every word.
"I still had some of Peter's stuff, and he had some of mine, so Fran and daddy went over to his house to get my stuff back and give him his- and his parents were there! And they told them what he did! He got in so much trouble!"
"He did? Oh, man! Fran, did you tear him to pieces? In front of his parents?" Brighton asked.
"Well, not exactly, but we did cut him down to size pretty good. He couldn't even look at us, he was so ashamed. And I bet you a hundred bucks his father tore him to shreds after we left. We could hear his voice down the hall when they shut the door!" The kids cheered and clapped their hands, and Max smiled at them all. Niles was loving it.
"Oh, man, you should have seen when they came back- Fran came and told me and my friends the whole story, and we were cheering! Oh, we shredded him even more after that! It was great!" Maggie grinned.
"So, Maggie, you're feeling a lot better now? I mean, is it not bothering you anymore?" Gracie asked.
"Well, sure, it bothers me some. But I feel like I have the upper hand now- not like he dumped me. I'm glad we broke up. If he was gonna treat me like that, I didn't need to be with him."
"Hear, hear!" Max said, and patted Maggie's hand. "And that's another thing, you all. We sort of felt like we should all talk about this as a family, and about these kind of relationships in general. I expected a lot more from Peter than what he ended up giving Maggie, and I've talked to Maggie about that- about how she deserves be be treated so much better. And Brighton, I need you to know that I expect you to be a better person than that, too. I don't ever want to find out you treated a girl poorly like that. I want you all to find your best friends, somebody who wants the best for you, and who will treat you well. What he did was inexcusable. And I don't think anyone saw that coming- not even his parents. So all we can hope is that he learns his lesson and never behaves like that again. So Brighton, if any of your friends acts like that, please say something to him- or her- because girls can hurt people like that too. Apparently it may have been one of Peter's friends who told him to go ahead and do it- to ask another girl out while he was still with Maggie, like he was trying to make sure the new girl liked him before he broke it off with Maggie. Only he didn't seem to realize he would get caught, and his father mentioned something about wanting him to tell the new girl what he did and see if she was still interested in him."
"Oh my god! He really said that? Oh I wish I could be a fly on the wall in that house! What an idiot!" Brighton shook his head. Gracie got out of her chair and ran around the table to give Maggie a hug.
"I'm sorry he did that, Maggie. He's a jerk!"
"He is. But I'm okay now. Having my friends over, and having Fran and daddy do what they did really helped. I thought I was going to spend the whole weekend in bed, feeling sorry for myself, but now I don't want to be like that. I feel so much better, and everyone made me feel stronger. And just in case you ever go through something like that when you're older, make sure you get your friends together and have a sleepover or something, and all of you can trash the person who hurt you. It feels so good!" Gracie grinned and hugged her again, and Fran beamed. Max unconsciously reached for her hand and squeezed it, then they glanced at each other, realizing things.
"So, Gracie dear, come sit back down. I think Maggie has something else she wants to share with everyone…" Max smiled over at Maggie, and she got really excited.
"I can tell them now?" Fran and Max nodded, and grinned form ear to ear. "You guys aren't gonna believe this, but Fran and daddy are going out with each other now!"
"What!?" Brighton, Gracie, and Niles all blurted out at the same time.
"They are! They went to brunch together this morning, it was a date! Their first date!"
"I knew it!" Niles yelled out, and smacked his hands together. "I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! That explains so much!"
"Are you really going out with each other?!" Gracie asked, and jumped out of her chair again. She grabbed on to Fran's arm.
"We are, sweetie! Can you believe it? Your daddy asked me out this morning. And he already asked me out for next weekend, too!" Gracie threw her arms around Fran's neck and hugged her, then ran to her father to hug him, too. He picked her up and set her on his lap. Brighton was looking over at Fran and his father, not realizing how big he was smiling. "So, Brighton, are you okay with all this?" Fran asked him.
"Am I okay with it? Of course I'm okay with it! It's about time, dad! Geez!" Everyone laughed together, then took a lot of deep breaths before settling back down to try to finish their meals. Gracie went back to her chair, but scooted it closer to Fran so she could hang on her arm.
"Maggie? How many of your friends were over here last night?" Brighton asked. Maggie laughed, then leaned back in her chair and looked at him seriously.
"Five."
"Man…" Brighton imagined five teenage girls in their pajamas, in his living room. Fran laughed. "What movies did you watch?"
"We watched the Alien movies, so lots of screaming and cheering."
"Aw, man! Do you still have the videos?" He asked.
"Oh, sorry, I took those back when I went to the market." Niles apologized.
"It's okay, B- maybe when your father takes me out next weekend, you can rent them again. Except for you, Gracie- I don't want you watching them, they're too scary for you."
"Aw! Why? I want to watch them, too!"
"Gracie, trust me, you don't want to see them. You're too sensitive. Maybe when you're older. You'll have nightmares for months if you watch them now," Maggie warned.
"Aw!"
"That's alright, sweetie, we'll find some movies you can watch, too," Fran told her, then patted her hand as it still clutched onto her arm. Max watched the whole interaction between everyone, and it melted him. This was his family, and they were wonderful.
"So, children- how is the homework situation? Did you all finish everything?" He asked.
"I did," Maggie said.
"Yeah, I got my worksheets done," Brighton followed.
"Well, I have a couple more pages of reading and then I'm done," Gracie said.
"Oh, Gracie, speaking of reading- we looked through those books and from what we could tell, they look like they're okay for you to read. So maybe you can pick one out to start reading tonight, once you've finished your homework," Fran told her.
"Really! Oh, cool!"
They all went back to their meals, and soon they were finished eating their salads and toasted bread, and washed it down with what remained of their iced teas. As Niles began clearing their plates, Max remembered something.
"Oh, children, I almost forgot something. Ah, with all this that has happened with Maggie, please be respectful of her if you happen to talk about it with anyone else, like your friends. She's had enough drama in one weekend to last her quite a while, so just think about that before you tell your friends or talk about it with anyone. It's sure to make the rounds around the people they both know, and probably your friends as well. Alright?"
Brighton and Gracie nodded, and looked over at Maggie.
"I'm okay, guys, really. But yeah, I'd probably prefer to not hear anything else about it for a while. I'm just glad he doesn't go to my school, because that would be a real mess! It's okay if you talk to your friends about it, but don't gossip. We just broke up because he did something bad, and that's about it." Gracie and Brighton nodded their heads, and then everyone started getting up from their chairs.
"So, no dessert tonight?" Niles asked, and everyone groaned. He waved them off, and continued clearing the table as they all headed for the living room, Max and Fran hand-in-hand as they followed the children through the hall.
They all spent a little time in the living room together, Maggie sitting on one side of Fran, and Max on the other. His arm was wrapped over hers and they held hands. Gracie and Brighton mindlessly watched a game show as Niles stood nearby, waiting in case anyone needed anything.
"Fran?" Maggie asked quietly, and looked towards her.
"Mm hmm?"
"This stupid Peter thing- I keep wondering if I missed something, a sign or something. I mean, if he wasn't taking me seriously, wouldn't I have seen something? Shouldn't I have?"
"Well, sweetie- that's hard to say. I mean, you don't have a lot of experience with guys, or with people in general. It takes a while to get a really good idea of what kind of person someone really is. I'm assuming you didn't exactly think of him as your best friend?"
"Well, no. Maybe not. We didn't get to know each other like that when we met. We just started going out right away. Do people pretend they're someone else when they start dating?"
"Sometimes, yeah, of course. Especially if they don't know each other. That's why your father said to take that kind of time- your best friend wouldn't have done something like that to you, and you wouldn't have wanted to do something like that to anyone. Was Peter ever vulnerable around you? Or with you? Did he talk about deep things?"
"Peter? Well… no, not really. I guess he didn't. Is that important?"
"Yeah, I guess it is. They have to be able to show that side to you, or you'll never get really close. If something ever hurt him a lot and if he talked to you about tit, you'd feel like you knew him a lot better, right? And if he trusted you with personal things about them, that sort of thing."
"Oh. Now that you mention it, I'm not sure he ever really did that. I wonder why?"
"Well, don't wonder too hard. He ruined his chance with you. He's got a lot of growing up to do before I'm sure his parents would let him date again. At least, I hope so. He obviously didn't want to know you at that level, so if that's what you wanted, then he's not the one for you." Fran squeezed Max's hand slightly in hers, and he reciprocated. He was locked on to their conversation, and Brighton and Gracie seemed to be listening, too, even though they tried to look away.
"Well, at least now I know a lot better what to look for in a guy. But not for a while- right now I'm just fed up with them!" Fran and Max chuckled, and he squeezed her hand. "Hey, I think I'm gonna go upstairs now and call some of my friends. Thank you guys for everything, it really did help."
"Aw, sweetie! Anytime! We'll always have your back," Fran said, and Maggie reached over to hug her, then got up and leaned over to hug her father.
"She's right, Maggie. You know we worry about you, but it looks like you've got a pretty good head on your shoulders, so always be sure to use it, alright?"
"Yes, daddy, I will. I'll remember all this, and I'll watch out a lot better next time. I don't want to go through that again. Well, good night if I don't see you later!"
"Okay, say hi to your friends for me!"
"Okay!" Maggie ran off towards the stairs, and Brighton looked over at Fran and Max.
"Is it okay if I go watch TV in my room?" He asked.
"Sure, but I want to take a look at your worksheets before you go to bed, okay? So if you think you might need to go back through them, I'd recommend you do that right now, okay?" Fran said, eyebrow raised.
"I know I know, they're done, and I'm sure they're fine. But I'll check again, okay?" He got up from his chair and started for the stairs.
"Okay. I'll see you later, B."
Gracie watched the others go, then got up from her seat and headed for Fran. She liked seeing her father holding Fran's hand, and smiled at them.
"Fran? Can I go start reading my new book?"
"Sure, baby, but not until you finish off that reading for school first, okay? Remember? You said you didn't finish."
"Aw! I forgot about that. Okay, but after I do that, then I can?"
"Of course. And I'll come check on you before bedtime."
Gracie hugged Fran, and then her father, but he held her for a moment before he let go.
"Now, darling, if you come across anything in any of those books, I want you to let one of us know, alright? We tried to look through as much of it as we could, but we could have missed something, so let us know. I don't want you reading something that isn't appropriate for you."
"Okay, daddy. I will." She hugged both of them around the neck. "I'm glad you guys are together now!"
"Aw, sweetie!" Fran said.
"We're glad, too, sweetheart!" Max kissed her on the cheek before letting her go, then she ran off with her bag of books. Niles stood there, beaming.
"Isn't this wonderful?!" He said. "I can't wait for Ms. Babcock to find out! Can I be the one to tell her?"
"Sure, Niles, unless it comes up in conversation before you get a chance to. But don't be too hard on her."
"Oh, she can handle it. And now that the others have all gone upstairs, if you two don't need anything from me, I think I might retire to the kitchen and finish cleaning up, if you don't mind."
"Sure, Niles, go right ahead. If we need something, we can get it ourselves."
"Alright, then, well, good night if I don't see you again!"
"Good night, Niles," they said together. Niles hurried away to the kitchen, and they were left alone together, the sound of the game show on the TV in the background. Fran gave Max's hand a squeeze and looked up at him.
"Hey, you…" she said softly.
"Hey, you…" he smiled. He looked into her eyes, then over her features. She clutched at his waist, then he reached a hand up and stroked her cheek. He rested his forehead against hers and closed his eyes, and she looked through her eyelashes at what she could see of his face.
"I really want to kiss you, Max. But if I kiss you the way I want to, that might be a problem for tonight- if we stay together." Max leaned back so his eyes could focus on her.
"I want to kiss you, too, Fran. Really kiss you. But yes, I understand. I don't want to create any problems that might make things more difficult later. Can I still give you a kiss, though?"
"Please! Kiss me like you did in the car. That was a wonderful kiss!" Max smiled, and stroked her cheek again, then slowly, carefully, leaned in and kissed her softly, the way he had after their brunch together.
"Mmmm…" he sighed. Fran clutched at the front of his shirt.
"Mmm! Kiss me like that anytime, Max! A million times!"
"Oh, that would definitely get us into trouble!" He smiled, then kissed her softly again. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she wrapped hers around his waist.
"You know what I wish?"
"What's that, darling?" He moved an errant curl from the side of her face.
"I wish- that we were someplace warm, where we could just sit outside at night like this, and watch the stars. A nice, warm breeze, maybe the sound of crickets in the distance. You know? Those nice kind of nighttime sounds that make you know for certain you aren't in the city."
"Yes, that would be nice. Like being in the Caribbean, or the Mediterranean. We'll have that again someday, only it'll be different then. We'll actually be together, and we can curl up with each other, kiss each other… and stay together that night, too. If you want to…" He raised an eyebrow and she laughed.
"We better!" He laughed, too, and they hugged again. Fran rested her head against him and closed her eyes. "I like this a lot, Max. I really do. Thank you for asking me out this morning."
"Well, you're very welcome. And thank you for saying yes. Thank you for going out with me. I'd say we did pretty well on our first date, wouldn't you?"
"We did. We did very well. And I can't wait for the next one, and the one after that, and the next and the next…!" They laughed again and Max squeezed her.
"So now we've got a situation, don't we? Partners, in the same house, raising three children. And not only do we get to be best friends, we get to be romantic with each other, too."
"Yeah! What a weekend!" Max laughed again.
"Come here, you! Let's get comfortable here. I want to hold you close. I want to get the hang of being like this with you. Touching you, and hugging you, and all that."
"Mmm hmm! Ditto!" Fran kicked off her heels under the coffee table and pulled her legs up onto the couch. She rested her folded legs over Max's lap, and he reached an arm over to hold onto them. Fran pressed herself up against his chest and he wrapped his other arm around her shoulders, then rested his cheek against the top of her head. He stroked her knee with his thumb and they began to relax with each other.
"You smell so good, Max! You always do. It makes me feel so good when I smell your cologne. I mean, when it's on you. You're that added ingredient that takes it over the top. I think they made it just for you, because when some other man has it on, it doesn't have the same effect on me. It just makes me realize I miss you, and I want to get back here as fast as I can, so I can see you again."
"Really? Well, I'll have to keep wearing it, then. Every day. Unless you tell me otherwise. And you always smell wonderful, too. I think with you, it's the combinations of fragrances that you come up with that I'm fond of. Sometimes I'll catch your perfume when you rush past, or if you hug me, I might catch the scent of your hair, or maybe it's a lotion you've just put on your hands. I could have my eyes closed, and I always know it's you when you get near. And it makes my heart race a little."
"Aw!" Fran squeezed him around the middle and smiled.
They sat there, curled up together, their eyes closed, for a while. Fran felt the soft strokes of his thumb over her knee, felt his chest rise and fall against her cheek as he breathed. He gave her soft kisses on the top of her head, felt the warmth of her body against him. He took it all in, and just let the time pass without worrying about looking at the clock. Fran felt the same way. She'd imagined this sort of time with him over and over in her mind, for what seemed like forever. And here they finally were. He was hers, and she was his.
Fran took a deep breath and sighed, and shifted her arms around him. He reached back and shifted her hair away from her neck, then clutched her tightly to him again. He moved his hand from her knee to reach for her hand on the side of his ribs, and lifted it to his lips, then softly kissed her fingers several times, then rested their hands down on his lap.
"Fran?"
"Mm?"
"I like this. I like being like this with you."
"I like it too, sweetie. I like it a lot."
"Mmm. I was thinking about how we said we had to be careful- you know, so we wouldn't get ourselves in trouble tonight. But would we?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, do we need to be concerned we'd rush things too fast? Because this doesn't feel like we're rushing And if we happened to kiss each other, maybe kiss each other for a long while…" he kissed the top of her head softly, then continued. "Kissing is alright, isn't it? We've kissed before. We're in a relationship now, and we care for each other. Is it worrying more about the children catching us, and having to explain it, that we're worried about, or are we worried we'd- we'd go too fast with us?"
"Well," Fran thought. "I don't feel like I'm worried about us at all. I think what we have will go at the pace it needs to. But I get it, if one of the children maybe caught me coming out of your bedroom in the morning, what would I say?"
"Hmm… If it was Margaret, I'm sure she wouldn't ask questions. Or Brighton either, for that matter. Would he? No- I expect not. He might be embarrassed, sure. I suppose it would mostly be Gracie, right? If she saw you in the morning. Or, maybe if I came out of your room- looking, well, like we'd been up to something…"
Fran laughed. "What would you say to her, if she caught you like that?"
"Oh gosh! I have no idea! Maybe we need to come up with something now, then we won't have to worry about that so much. If it's just the impression we'd leave on Grace that we're concerned about… Well, do we talk to her now? Should we talk to her tonight? Maybe just get it out in the open that you may be in my room, and that's okay."
"You really feel like it's okay? For me to be with you all night?"
"Of course I do. I really do, Fran. I know what I want with you, darling. I know you're the one for me." He lifted her chin to look at her.
"Really? You really feel that way?" Max nodded.
"I do."
"I feel the same was about you, Max! I always have. We stepped into this situation together, the two of us, so why should we wait, or be so careful? I need you to know how I feel about you, all of it. Tomorrow's never guaranteed, right? I don't want either of us ever having any regrets over what we should have done, okay? If we know what we both want, if we're both in the situation we want to be in- then let's be in it! Completely! We can talk to the kids, so they aren't surprised by us staying together. We'll talk to Gracie, together if you want, so she knows how much we care about each other, and we don't want to be apart. Okay?"
"Yes! Let's do that! Because I don't want to be away from you. I know what I've been wanting in my life, and who I want it with. And she's been here with me all this time. And I'd like every night to end up just like this- our arms around each other… just like this…"
"Every night!" Fran agreed, and looked up at him. He tilted his head towards her, and they kissed. She slid her arms up around his neck and kissed him firmly, and he held her closely around the waist. They caught their breath and continued the kiss, deeper and deeper, more passionate than before. They couldn't stop themselves, and they didn't want to. They let the kiss taper off into soft little kisses, then rested their foreheads together while they caught their breath.
"Darling!" Max gasped. "You know I'm crazy about you, don't you?"
"I'm crazy about you, too, Max! You're the best thing that ever happened to me!" She caressed his face and they smiled at each other.
"Then let's go- let's go up there and talk to the children. And then we'll get ready for bed, and have all night to ourselves, together. What do you say?"
"Yeah, let's do that. Because I don't want anything getting in the way of us being together- being together the way we need to be. Every night. I need you, Max. I need to hold you and touch you as much as I can. And kiss you, too," she grinned.
"I need that, too. Alright, let's go. Get your shoes, and I'll turn off the television." Fran grabbed her shoes from under the coffee table and Max turned off the TV, then they reached for each other as they headed for the stairs and turned off the light.
They decided that Max should talk to Maggie, and Fran should speak with Brighton, about the two of them staying together at night. Max knew he got the easy job, and wondered how Fran was going to handle the conversation, especially since they both knew Brighton had had a bit of a crush on her since he met her. And Max couldn't blame him. As they got near the children's rooms, Max turned to head to Maggie's room, and Fran to Brighton's. They shared a smile before they turned and knocked on the children's doors.
"Hey, B! It's just me," Fran said. Brighton opened the door for her and she stepped into his room.
"Now before you ask, I went over my homework. Here it is," Brighton handed her a small stack of worksheets. "And you were right, I found some things I needed to change."
"Well good! That's always a good idea, to go back through it again. Give it a second look. So what are you watching?"
"Garbage mostly, but X-Files is coming on next. Is it cool if I watch that? I can get ready for bed during the commercials." Fran gave him a stern look.
"Well, I suppose that'll be okay. It does look like you got all of this done. Here, put it in your backpack so you don't forget it in the morning. But I want your lights out the second X-Files is over, okay?"
"Okay! Cool!" They sat on his bed for a moment as Fran looked over at the television, trying to stall as she tried to figure out what to say. "Was that all, or is there something else?" He asked.
"Oh, yeah, uh, there is kinda something else. I guess I dunno exactly how to bring it up."
"It's about you and dad, isn't it?" Fran looked at him, surprised.
"Well, yes, actually it is. Um, I don't know how to ask this. Or say this. Well, ah, would it bother you, well, that is, I hope it wouldn't bother you, that if you happened to notice that your father and I, um…"
"Just say it, Fran."
Fran screwed up her face a little, then cleared her throat. "Okay, okay. Your father and I- well, I'll be staying with him at night, okay. There, I said it. I need to know if that would bother you, or anything. We don't want to be away from each other at night. We don't want any more wasted time, you know? We'd miss each other too much. So I just needed to tell you that, and see if it would bother you, so in case you ever happened to, uh, see me come out of his room or anything. I mean, I know it might be a little weird at first. It's a transition. We all need to make a bit of a transition, since your father and I are together now. But is it- are you okay with that, I mean, is it going to be a problem-"
"It's fine, Fran. Don't worry about us. We've all talked about it before, about what it might be like if you guys finally got together. Sure, it might seem a little weird right at first, but that's fine. You guys are together now, that's what matters. Of course you're gonna want to be together. I get it. If I had a girlfriend, I'm sure I'd feel the same way. So don't worry about it, okay? It's cool."
"Really? Oh, that's great! I mean, I thought you'd be okay with it, but you know, it might be a little weird, but we aren't going to sneak around or anything. We don't want to be doing that. We want to be open about it all, that we're a couple, you know? Oh, that feels so much better! Thank you, B! But what about- what about Gracie? She's still little, and you know, we're always talking about right and wrong with her, you know? That, well, you know, marriage and all of that… Geez, I shouldn't be putting all this on you, I'm sorry, B-"
"Fran, relax! Gracie will be fine with it. Just talk to her, you'll see. You don't have to give her al the details. You don't have to give us any details either. You're just gonna be staying together at night, end of story. She won't have a problem with it. But yeah, you might need to tell her not to come looking for you at night. That might be the bigger issue."
"Oh! Yeah, I gotcha. Good idea. Yeah. Okay, then. Well, I'll leave you to your show. And thank you, B. Thank you for being cool with it. It means a lot."
"No problem. Good night, Fran."
"Good night, B. Lights out in an hour, remember!"
"I will." Fran headed for the door and shut it behind her as she gave Brighton a smile. She met max out in the hallway after he left Maggie's room, and they reached for each other's hand.
"Everything go alright?" He asked Fran.
"Just fine. He's totally cool with it."
"Maggie, too."
"But Brighton did bring up one thing. He said he was sure Gracie would be okay with us staying together, but he said we better make sure she doesn't come looking for me at night. We may need some ground rules so we don't have any unexpected interruptions…" Max chuckled.
"Yes, alright. I'm sure that would be a good idea. We'll set up some ground rules. Well, you ready to go talk to her?"
"Yeah. Let's go!" They walked together to Gracie's room, and peeked into her open door. Fran tapped on the door and pushed it open.
"Hi Fran! Hi daddy!" She looked up from her book to greet them.
"Hi, angel. How's the book?" Fran asked.
"It's good. It's a little sad right now, but I know she's gonna go on an adventure, so I can't wait to get to that part!" Gracie sat up in her bed, and Fran and Max sat down near her. Fran looked over at Max, wondering which one of them should start. Max thought it best that he did.
"Ah, Gracie, we kind of wanted to talk to you about something for a minute. Something that is important to us, if you don't mind," Max said, as he reached for her hand.
"What is it? Is everything okay?"
"Yes, sweetheart. Everything's great, really great. But that's why we need to talk to you, because things will be a little different around here, a bit different than you're used to. See, ah, Fran and I- after everything this weekend with Maggie, and a lot of other things, we've talked a lot, and realized a lot. We really care about each other, and, well, we've decided that we don't want to be apart at night. It's a comforting thing to have her there with me, and- well, because of that, you might see her in my room, or coming out of my room, like in the morning. Things like that. We just want you to know about that, and wanted to see if that would bother you at all."
Gracie looked back and forth at each of them. "So, Fran's staying with you every night now?"
"Yes, I hope so," Max looked at Fran and she smiled, and then nodded.
"Well, you guys are together now, right? You like each other a lot. Maybe even love each other a lot. But if she's staying with you, daddy, isn't it gonna be her room, too? Are you gonna move your stuff in there, Fran?"
"Well, um, we haven't talked about all of that just yet. We just started this, and just wanted you to know about it, so you weren't surprised. But your father and I can talk about that stuff, too. So you won't be bothered if I stay with him? Because that would mean you can't come looking for me at night, because it wouldn't be just me, like before when you'd come into my room at night if you had a nightmare or were sick."
"Oh, okay. But what if I do have a nightmare, or I get sick?"
"Well, then, you need to knock, and wait for one of us to wake up and come get the door."
"Oh. Okay. That's no big deal."
"Really? Oh, good! I mean, so none of that would bother you? Me staying with daddy?"
"No, I think it's good for you to stay with him, so he's not so lonely. He's been lonely a long time."
"Aw," Fran reached for Max and rubbed his back.
"She does make me feel happy, and not lonely," he said. Gracie smiled, then leaned over and hugged her father.
"Now is there anything else, because I really want to get back to my book," Gracie said.
"Well, then, that settles it I guess!" Fran grinned. "Okay, sweetie, you can have fifteen more minutes of reading, then I want you to get to bed, okay?"
"Okay, I will." Max got up from the bed and Fran leaned over to hug Gracie, then tucked her back in her covers.
"We'll see you in the morning, angel! Love you!" Fran said, squeezing Gracie's shoulder.
"Yes, love you sweetheart, and thank you for the talk."
"Okay, love you guys, too. Good night!"
"Good night," Fran and Max said together, then stepped out the door. Max smiled at Gracie one last time before he shut the door. He and Fran looked at each other and smiled from ear to ear, then hugged each other.
"Well, that went a lot better than I imagined!"
"It did! I thought she was gonna have all sorts of uncomfortable questions!"
"Oh, I know. But that was all very mature of her, wasn't it?"
"It was! So are we all done with all of that? Should we go get ready for bed ourselves?"
"Yes, let's!" Max said, and he walked her to her bedroom. "I'll see you in a little bit," he said.
"In a bit," Fran said, then pecked him on the lips. They separated and went to get ready for bed.
"Knock knock!" Fran said, as she pushed the bedroom door open. Max was writing on a notepad as he sat on the side of the bed, legs outstretched. "Whatcha working on, sweetie?"
"Oh, I thought I better start writing down our little inside joke from earlier, in case it might come in handy someday," he said, then set down the notepad and pen on the bedside table. He got up and headed for Fran, then they wrapped their arms around each other.
"What would it come in handy for? Conversation?" "Mmm, maybe. But I was thinking more along the lines of a scene in something. A play perhaps, or story."
"Really? Is there something you're already working on that you could fit that into?"
"No, not at the moment. But maybe with that scene, that could change. Maybe it'll give me some ideas."
"Oh, goodie! That would be fantastic to see that play out on a stage, especially if it was just as funny!" Max smiled, he loved her enthusiasm. He leaned in for a kiss and she reciprocated.
"Mmmm…" he sighed, as they parted. "You need anything, before we go to bed? Niles brought water up earlier, and two glasses…"
"Oh, does he know?"
"Yes. He saw the blanket on the bed and asked questions." "Did you answer them?"
"No, but he knew. Especially when Maggie told everyone at dinner. But that's alright, he would have found out soon enough."
"Mmm hmm! Especially if your whole bed was messed up every morning!" They both laughed.
"Well, on that note, what say we go mess it up a little?" Fran grinned.
"Come on, baby! I need your arms around me!" She squealed, then took off her robe and tossed it to the bench. They walked around opposite sides of the bed and climbed in. Max had already turned the covers down and removed most of the extra pillows. They settled in under the covers and Max opened his arms to her. Fran crawled over and laid down in his arms and rested her head on his chest. Max pulled the covers up and nuzzled her. She slid her arm around his ribs and clutched him tightly.
"Mmm… I'm so glad the children are alright with this. I'm not much for sneaking around, and if they weren't alright with it, I might have to sneak to your room during the night. Because I definitely need this! I need a lot of it!" Max said, closing his eyes and clutching her tightly.
"Yeah, so do I. I don't want to let go of you, Max! This feels really good!"
"It does." Max reached over and shut off the bedside light, then wrapped his arm back over hers.
"So what did Maggie say when you talked to her? About us staying together like this?"
"Mm, she was fine with it. I told her that she better be fine with it, since she was kind of responsible for us getting closer like this. I think she liked that part. She's really happy about it. So how was Brighton when you told him?"
"He was fine with it, too. I was more nervous about bringing it up to him than he seemed to be about hearing about it. I think he's just glad we're together, and he thinks we should spend our time together. He was pretty matter-of-fact."
"Well, this is good, then. Everyone's good with it. Now we can just relax, and get used to each other…" Fran said softly.
"Mmm, that's the best part…" Max stroked her arm, then she raised herself up to look at him in the dim light. She propped herself up and smiled, then leaned towards him and kissed his lips. He welcomed the kiss, and ran his hand over her back. She kissed him several times, but held her tongue back from him. She'd save that for after another date. She gave him one last tender kiss, then caressed his cheek, and rested back down on his shoulder.
"Thank you for asking me out this morning."
"You're very welcome, Fran. Thank you for going out with me. And thank you very much for everything you've done for Maggie. I know she'll never forget it, and I won't forget it, either."
"She means a lot to me. All three of them mean a lot to me. You know I'd do anything for them, and I'd do anything for you, too. If you hadn't noticed, I'm pretty crazy about you, Max."
"I'm pretty crazy about you, too, Fran," he kissed her forehead softly. "And maybe tomorrow… maybe tomorrow we can talk about what Gracie said- about moving your things in here, if you want."
"Really? I think I'd like that. Yeah, that would be good. But for now, I just want to hold you. I just want to get the hang of being with you, like this."
"Yes, so do I. This is really nice. And in case one of us falls asleep soon, I hope you have sweet dreams, and a good night."
"I know I will. And I hope you do, too, Max. Good night."
"Good night, Fran." He kissed her forehead again, and Fran hugged him tightly, and they clung to each other until they both fell off to sleep.