Niles welcomed them home when they came in the front door and took their coats, then put them away in the closet.
"Niles- how is, ah-" Max asked.
"Ms. Babcock?" Niles interjected.
"Yes." "Oh, grumpy as usual. But you'll be happy to know that we've had two couriers here to take what you were sending out, and also- the courier brought that material for you two, and I put it up in your bedroom."
"Oh! Good!" Fran and Max said together.
"May I take that bag from you, sir?" Niles asked.
"This one? Oh, yes. This is from the restaurant. Now, these desserts are a special treat for Fran and I later, don't let anyone touch them. Can you set them somewhere out of sight? Don't put them in the refrigerator." Max said. "And there's a bottle of wine in here, you're welcome to have a glass of it, but the rest is for Fran and I to have with the eclairs later. Can you keep that chilled a bit?"
"Yes sir! Absolutely, sir!" Niles took the bag from Max and grinned from ear to ear.
"Fran, I better go see how things are going in the office. But do you have anything to do right now?"
"No, other than watching for the kids to get home, which should be any second. I want to make sure Maggie's day went okay."
"Yes- yes, alright. Well, let's get ourselves sorted, and then I was thinking of maybe, if you want, I could bring that other paperwork out to the living room, maybe we could sit a spell out here?"
"Sure! Okay, let me go put my bags of goodies upstairs and I'll be right back down. And Niles- I gotta show you what Max got me!" Fran squealed. "Oh, sweetie- do you want me to bring down the things the courier brought, or-"
"Ah, let's hold off on that for the moment. The children are liable to be running around here any minute, and then we'd have to explain things to them."
"Explain what things to them?" Niles asked.
"Oh, don't worry, Niles. We'll let you know soon enough if there's anything to tell," Max raised his eyebrows. Niles scoffed, and turned around and headed for the kitchen with their bag of treats.
"Poor Niles!" Fran said. She pulled Max's hand and tugged him close to her, then they kissed each other several times.
"Mmm… I'll be needing some more of that with my dessert later, if that's alright with you…" Max said to her.
"Mmm, you got it. Now let me run upstairs real quick, and I'll meet you back in the living room?"
"Will do." He gave her another peck and let go of her hand, and she ran up the stairs with her bags as he watched. She was so cute in that outfit! He took a deep breath and tried to regain his composure, then headed to the office to deal with C.C.
Max tapped on the closed office door, then began to open it.
"It's me, C.C., I'm back," he said. "How are you doing with all of this? Niles tells me you've gotten through two couriers now."
"Yes, I have. I've been slaving away all day, thank you very much. This last batch is taking longer than the others. Are you going to do anything else today, or are you suddenly on vacation?"
"Relax, C.C. We're on top of everything." Max looked at his watch. "But why is it taking you longer to go through it all than it took me? I was kind of expecting you to be done with it all by the time we got back."
"Well, while you were out having an extra long lunch, I still had to field some phone calls while I was here. And they got me all distracted, so I had to start over with some contracts. It ate into some of the time it takes to read all of these."
"You know you don't really have to read through all of them, right? You just need to scan them for anything that looks noticeably off. We've read them multiple times already. Don't you trust the lawyer's staff?"
"I don't trust anybody, Maxwell," She glared at him.
"Well, have you found any mistakes?"
"Well, no."
"Alright then. Well, while you're doing that, let me have the new bundle from the lawyer and I'll get started on that. Let me get a pen and some notepads and I'll get out of your way."
"Out of my way? You aren't going to work in here? I can move some of this out of the way," C.C. almost begged.
"No, no. Don't risk getting all that mixed up. I'll just be out in the living room. And I want to see the children when they get home as well. So, I'll leave you to it," he said, as he gathered all the papers and fat envelopes and notepads and pen and pencil. He went through the door and shut it behind him, leaving C.C. with her jaw hanging open.
Max brought his pile of work to the coffee table and sat down, and began sorting it out. Fran came jogging into the room from the kitchen and hurried over to him. She sat down next to him, then kicked off her boots under the table.
"Hey, sweetie- why don't you give me your jacket. You can start relaxing now." She helped him take off his blazer, then she folded it carefully and draped it over the back of the couch. Max decided to kick off his shoes, too, and pushed them under the table with hers. He loosened his tie, unbuttoned the top of his shirt, grabbed a stack of papers, a notepad, and a pencil, then scooted back on the couch and let Fran cuddle next to him. It was making him feel very domestic. He looked over at her and smiled.
"I like being able to work like this much better than being shut away in the office," he put a hand on her knee and squeezed it.
"Me, too! But you're sure I won't get in the way?"
"Positive. These things aren't urgent like the rest. I just need to read and take notes, maybe put some post-its on a few things that may need changes. I'll just get done what I can now, then there won't be as much to work on tomorrow, and I can spend some more time with you."
"I like the sound of that! Would it be too distracting if the TV was on?"
"Not at all, go right ahead, sweetheart."
"Thank you!" She reached for the remote. "Oh, and thank you for my necklace, too! I'm gonna want to wear it all the time!" She clutched the new necklace she had around her neck- a silver chain with a small charm with two intertwined figures on it."
"You're very welcome. It looks good on you." He leaned his head back a bit to flirt with her, and look over her neck where she was clutching the charm. She smiled at him and took his face in her hands, then pulled him close for a kiss. The front door flew open just then, and Brighton and Gracie fumbled through the door with their book bags and coats. Fran turned to look over at them and welcome them home.
"Hey guys!" She called out.
"Fran! I finished my homework! All of it! Can I read my book?"
"Sure you can, sweetie, but change out of your uniform first. And I want to see your homework later, okay? So make sure you really did everything."
"Okay!"
Niles came over to the front door to meet the children, and took Gracie's coat as she flew up the stairs with her book bag. Brighton dropped his heavy bag on the stairs and fumbled to get out of his coat.
"What about you, B?" Fran asked. "How's your homework situation?"
"It's monday, so it's awful. It's not all due tomorrow, but still. I was hoping I could play some games tonight, but now I don't know if I'll be able to."
"Aw, poor B! Why don't you go get changed, and get yourself a snack, okay? Rest a bit before you get started on it. I'll come and check on you in a while, okay?"
"Okay. Hi, dad," he mumbled, then handed Niles his coat.
"Hello, Brighton. Oh, Brighton?"
"Yeah?" He stopped on the bottom step.
"On your computer, do you have a way of seeing what the temperature is in different places? I mean, like the actual temperature?" "Uh, yeah, I think so. I'm sure I could find a site somewhere. Why?"
"Oh, no real reason, I was just wondering is all. Well, go ahead and get changed. You look tired."
"Yeah…" Brighton trudged upstairs, and Niles turned to go back to the kitchen, curious about why Mr. Sheffield might want to know temperatures of other places.
A few minutes later, Maggie came in the door and set down her bag while she unbuttoned her coat. Fran and Max both jumped up and turned around.
"Mags! Come here! How was your day? Come tell us!" Fran called to her. Maggie smiled, then hung up her coat and came over to them.
"Hello, Maggie!" Max said. "How did your day go? Are you doing alright?"
"Yeah, daddy. I'm good. It was weird at first, but my friends were with me all the time. We talked to lots of my other friends, and everybody's pretty P. , if you know what I mean. A lot of kids are gonna boycott the Gap as long as he works there. And they want to try to find out who the girl was, to either warn her or shun her. But I'm pretty sure whoever she is, she didn't know what he was up to, either. But yeah, it was kind of weird, but after lunchtime things felt a lot better. A lot of girls were high-fiving me and cheering me on. They all heard what you and daddy did, so you guys are kind of legends at my school right now," she smiled.
"Aw!" Fran got up from the couch and hugged her, and Max followed.
"I'm glad you're feeling alright, Maggie. And I'm really glad you have so much support with all of your friends. That makes me feel a lot better."
"Me too, daddy. I'll be fine."
"So, how's your homework situation?" Fran asked her.
"The usual, some reading, some writing, some algebra. I just wanna grab a snack in the kitchen, then I'll go get started on things. And I need to call some friends, too. We have a group project we have to get started on, so we need to sort that out. So, dinner at the regular time?"
"As far as we know. I might come check on you later, okay?" Fran said, hugging her again.
"Okay. See you guys later!" Maggie hurried back to the stairs and grabbed her bag, then headed for the kitchen. Fran and Max sat back down on the couch, somewhat relieved.
"I feel much better about her now, that she made it through the day, don't you?" Fran asked Max.
"Yes, absolutely! It's a difficult thing for anyone to go through, especially a teenager, but she's really handling it well. And I'm certain that's because she has so many supportive friends."
"And family, too. Don't forget- we're legends!" Fran said. They both laughed and Max wrapped his arms around her.
"That was pretty legendary, what we did, wasn't it? I wonder if Peter's still shaking in his boots!" Max said, and they laughed again.
"Well, at least we probably won't have to worry about her dating for a while, and whoever's next is gonna have a pretty hefty screening process, and not just from us!" Fran said, as she stroked Max's hair back with her fingers.
"That's for sure!" He looked into Fran's eyes as she stroked his hair, and smiled at her.
"I probably shouldn't be doing this, should I? You've got some work to do." She ran the backs of her fingers over his cheek and he grumbled, not wanting her to stop.
"Yeah. My homework situation isn't so great either. But thank you for sitting here with me while I work on it."
"Anytime, baby. I just like being with you."
"I like being with you, too," he whispered, then they kissed again. He closed his eyes and rested his head back against the couch and grumbled. "Okay, okay, I'll get back to work." He opened his eyes and smiled at her, then sat up and put his stack of papers back on his lap. Fran shifted the pillows around and curled up at the end of the couch, pulling her feet up and tucking them just under the side of his thigh. He couldn't help but grin, and rested his hand on her ankles as he read through the first set of papers.
"Thanks for helping, Fran. It's not so overwhelming now. Since I got the stuff due tomorrow done, is it okay if I play some video games for a while?" Brighton asked, as Fran sat at the end of his bed.
"Yeah, I think you earned it. But just remember, you might not be able to do that the rest of the week, okay? Make sure you're staying on top of all this. Why don't you get it all put away first, then the games?" Fran said, standing up from his bed.
"Okay. Oh- maybe before I do that, did dad need me to look up some place on the computer? That whole temperature thing?"
"Oh, well, um… I guess since you have the computer on, can you see if there's some place that will show the forecast of different places?"
"Sure. Here, let me log on real quick." Brighton slid over his bed to his desk and flopped down in the chair, logged onto his computer, and then typed a bit, trying to find a website. "Here we go- that weather channel as a site here. Any place specifically?"
"Um," Fran thought, wondering if she should tell Brighton or not. "Um… does it show places down on the coast? Like even in the Gulf Coast?" She was trying not to be obvious, and Brighton seemed to be oblivious.
"Sure, yeah, they have cities down that way. You mean like New Orleans? And, um, they have Mobile, Pensacola. Then there's Houston, Beaumont…"
"Oh, what's it like down that way? Isn't there some big beach down that way? Like on an island or something?"
"On an island? Let's see," he clicked the mouse a few times. "Oh, there's that place- Galveston Island. You mean like around there?"
"Yeah, sure. What's it like there this week?" Fran wrung her hands, waiting for Brighton to find the forecast for Galveston.
"Hmm… it says the high today was eighty! Wow, I bet that's nice! Upper seventies the next few days."
"How cold does it get there?"
"Um, well, one night is low sixties, the rest says mid to upper sixties. Man, I wish I was there! Can you imagine? Being on a beach right now… eighty degrees in the daytime? They're so lucky!"
"Oh, I know it! That sounds nice! That's really neat that you can find out so much on your computer. I wish we had that when I was your age. Well, I'll let you get back to relaxing, okay? Get your things ready for tomorrow, and just have the games off by nine, okay? I don't want you staying up late tonight."
"Okay, I will. And thanks, Fran. Really. That was a weight off my shoulders!"
"Aw, I'm glad I could help! You know, that stuff was kind of like what I helped your father with, and it helped him get through it a lot faster. Maybe it'll help you do that, too."
"Man, I sure hope so!" Brighton smiled, then he shut off his computer and began picking up his schoolbooks.
"See you in the morning, B."
"Good night, Fran."
Fran shut his door behind her and stepped out into the hall, only to run into Max coming from Gracie's room.
"How's Gracie?" She asked.
"Completely immersed in that book. I don't think she even realized I was there and that she was talking to me."
"Really? Aw, I better not go interrupt her then. But I might have to go in there when it's her bedtime and make sure she puts the book away, otherwise she'll be up all night."
"Good idea. How is Brighton?"
"He's good. I think I helped him sort out his work for this week, and that seemed to make him feel better. He finished tomorrow's work, so I said he could play video games for a while. Oh! He looked up the temperature in Galveston!"
"He did? What was it?"
"High of eighty today!"
"Oh… that sounds nice!"
"And the lows were only low sixties. Can you imagine?"
"No, I can't even pretend to be able to feel that. Well, hey, let's check on Maggie and then we'll go have our desserts and wine in front of the fireplace, while we look at that envelope of information. How does that sound?"
"Wonderful! Come on!" Fran grabbed his hand and pulled him to Maggie's room, then she knocked on Maggie's door.
"Come in!" Maggie yelled, over her music. Fran opened the door and they both peeked in, and Maggie lowered the volume on her boombox.
"We just wanted to check on you one last time. How's everything going? Homework okay?" Fran asked, as they stepped into the bedroom.
"Yep. Finished the written, just have a little more reading to do. Hey, I want to see your new necklace again! Can I?" Maggie jumped off of her bed and hurried to Fran. Fran smiled and pulled the necklace out of her sweater.
"Sure! Isn't it pretty?" Fran turned and smiled at Max, and Maggie reached for the charm in Fran's hand.
"It is pretty. That was really sweet of you to get it for her, daddy. Did you guys have a nice date?"
"We did! That restaurant was really good, too. We might go back there again sometime, for another date or two," Fran bumped Max with her hip and he smiled. Maggie looked up at him, then back at Fran, and let go of the necklace.
"It's good to see you guys smiling so much. Especially you, daddy. I'm glad you guys are happy." Max reached for Fran's hand.
"We are happy. So thank you for that nudging this weekend. It helped a lot," Max said. Maggie grinned, and took Fran's other hand and squeezed it.
"So, Mags, you okay for the night? We're gonna go take it easy for a while, so we might not see you later."
"I'm fine, don't worry about me. Go finish your date! I'm just gonna watch some TV after I finish this reading."
"Okay, sweetie. Well, have a good night, and we'll see you in the morning." Fran and Max took turns hugging Maggie, then they shut her door behind them. Niles rushed past with a laundry basket and Max stopped him.
"Oh, Niles? Would it be a lot of trouble to ask you to bring up the desserts to the bedroom? And the wine? And I still mean it about you having a glass. Maybe you can take a break after and have some wine with the paper or something?" Max asked.
"Oh, that's no trouble at all, and yes, I'm about done with everything. It would be nice to sit a spell, with a glass of wine. Yes, I'll go get a tray together for you both, and be right back up!" Niles smiled wide, and looked from Max to Fran, then turned and rushed off with the laundry basket. Max wrapped his arm over Fran's shoulders and she wrapped an arm around his waist, then they walked slowly back to the master bedroom. They turned on the lights, and Max went to turn on the fireplace, then came back over to Fran. "You know, Fran, there's another thing we haven't talked about yet today."
"Oh yeah? What's that?" She wrapped her arms around his waist and clutched him tight.
"About us sharing this room, bringing your things over." He leaned his head down, and just touched her forehead with his.
"You'd really be alright with that? Right now?"
"I would. I want you to be comfortable. And if you stay in here at night, you should have the things you need, for the night and the morning. Would you be ready to start working on that? On bringing your things in here? Having your own space in the closet?"
"My own space in the closet? The would be pretty nice. Yeah, I'd like that. I like being with you, in here. So as long as you feel alright with all that, then yes, I'd like it, too. And just remember, anytime you change your mind, or get nervous about anything- if it feels like it's going too fast, then talk to me, okay? We'll talk about it."
"Alright. I promise. But I don't think I can see that happening. I know I want you with me, in here, at night. All the time. I know I need that."
"Mmm… I need it, too, Max."
There was a knock at the door and Niles appeared, silver tray in his hands.
"Where would you like me to set this?" He asked.
"Oh, put it here, Niles, on the bench. Thank you. And you made sure to get yourself a glass from this?"
"Waiting for me downstairs as we speak, sir."
"Good man. Thank you, Niles. I think that'll be all for tonight- oh, wait! Ah, tomorrow, could you see about making some room in the closet here? You don't have to clear things out all at once, but we'd like to make some room for Fran to bring her things in."
"Oh- the closet? Yes, yes, I can do that! Tomorrow! I'll definitely get that started!"
"Thank you, Niles. Have a good night, and we'll see you in the morning."
"Yes, sir! And ma'am! Enjoy your evening! Good night!"
"Night, Niles!" Fran waved.
Niles backed out of the room, smiling, and shut the door behind him. Fran chuckled, and went to lock the door. Max picked up the envelope of information from the bed, and went to the tray to pour the glasses of wine. Fran went to pull the drapes closed, and suddenly noticed something.
"Oh my gosh, Max! Look!" She pointed out the window. It was beginning to snow.
"Oh no, not again!" Max exclaimed. He looked at the envelope in his hands, and then looked back at Fran. "Eighty degrees, you say?"
"Mmm hmm!" Fran shut the curtains, then hurried over to Max.
"Here, come sit with me. There should be room for the both of us in this chair." Fran sat down in the chair next to the fireplace, then Max handed her a plate with an eclair, and a glass of wine, then brought the tray over to the footstool and set it down. He took sip of wine, then sat down next to Fran and they cuddled up tightly together. They took bites of their eclairs, and then Max set his wine glass down. He opened the envelope and pulled out everything inside of it. The first thing they saw were the photos.
"Oh!" They both said out loud.