Frank's POV
In an odd twist of fate, Carlos's pristine black Porsche 911, and Hal's silver, second-hand Honda Civic with the dent in the front passenger door from where Beth had thrown it a little too wide in a shopping mall and banged it against a pole, pulled up to the curb outside the house within a minute of each other and I got to watch my kids greet each other on the sidewalk without their knowledge from the living room window. They rushed to each other and hugged, but as they pulled back Hal gave her an earful, probably letting out every worried thought he'd tried to hold inside when I'd called him earlier and he realised he hadn't heard from her in one big rush. She nodded, and placated him, lifting her arms to gesture to herself to show that she was fine.
Knowing my daughter, she was probably also promising to convince me it was all her fault so that I wouldn't be mad at either of the men standing on the sidewalk with her. Unfortunately for her, her brother took his job seriously–too seriously sometimes–and wasn't likely to let her shoulder all the blame.
While they continued their brief argument, Carlos stood a step behind my Pumpkin, silently scanning the street for threats, his keen eyes catching on all the security pitfalls that could present a problem if they were in danger, before his eyes drifted to the front of the house, immediately zeroing in on the sliver of curtain I peered out through. The tilt of his head was barely perceptible, but I recognised the gesture from my own days running missions. He was as good as his file said he was.
I wasn't surprised that Stephanie had run into him at the party, given that he owns the company Hal works for and lives in the same building. Still, I had hoped she would have shown a bit more common sense and respect for her family and made sure a) that Hal made it home safely and b) that we knew the change in her plans in case something happened to her. A pepper spray, stun gun, and panic button were only useful as long as she was conscious and the items within reach, and while the file and my instincts told me Carlos would never do anything like that to a woman, I couldn't help but worry every time my Pumpkin was out on a date with a man.
"Frank Plum, are you really spying on your children through the curtain cracks?" Beth admonished, passing the living room on her way upstairs with a basket of clean clothes fresh from the dryer.
"I heard car doors and wanted to check if it was them," I explained, which was the truth for why I had first paused my pacing to cross to the curtain, but once I'd caught sight of them, I was compelled to spy, to gather intelligence to inform what the scene would be like once they approached the door.
"Mmhmm," Beth said, a nonplussed expression on her face as she shifted the basket so she could prop her fist on her hip. "The car doors you heard were over a minute ago, Frank, and you've been standing there just as long. Put the General away and step away from the window."
I gave her a small chagrined smile at having been caught and closed the distance between us, taking the basket from her hands and leaning down to press a kiss to her lips. "He's away," I promised, steadying her with one hand on her waist when she swayed toward me, a clear sign she wanted more. "No General today. Just Disappointed Dad."
She shook her head, poking my cheek with one finger. "That's worse!" she exclaimed, taking the basket back from me. "Promise you'll go easy on them. Steph really likes this Just Carlos. I haven't seen her this happy in a long time."
I nodded and resisted the urge to tap her ass when she turned to take the laundry upstairs just as the doorbell rang.
I had to suppress a smile at the scene I found when I opened the door. Steph, front and centre, with a determined expression on her face, ready to protect the military-trained men behind her at all costs. Hal and Just Carlos held themselves tall, ready to take whatever was dealt their way, but while Hal was clearly nervous, Just Carlos's posture and expression showed no such emotion. No emotion at all, in fact. Hopefully, he knew that while the blank mask was essential to keeping him safe in the more dangerous aspects of his employment with Uncle Sam, hiding his emotions in his personal life would only lead to isolation.
It had taken me years of marriage and beginning signs of my first wife's abuse toward our second daughter before I truly figured out how to let down my guard and share how I was feeling. I thought that by showing up for Steph and being open with Helen about my disapproval of her actions, I could fix what was starting before it took hold. But after years of shutting my emotions away, Helen baulked at the sudden resistance. Our arguments grew more frequent, and while I loved her as the mother of my children, I found, increasingly, that I no longer liked the woman she had become, and I especially didn't like the way she treated the girls with such obvious favouritism toward Valerie.
It went on longer than it should have because my work dragged me away from home so often, and when I finally became aware of how deep the rot had penetrated, I thought I could fix it. For the children's sake, I'd tried to make it work. But my one regret in life was not getting my Pumpkin out of that situation sooner, not showing up for her in the way she needed me to straight away.
I wasn't about to let this man who clearly had feelings for my daughter, and whom my daughter had strong feelings for in return, make the same mistakes that I did. If they loved each other like I thought they might, I wasn't going to let it sour with a lack of healthy communication.
Silently, I opened my arms, and Steph immediately walked into them, holding so tight that her cast pressed uncomfortably into my back, but I would never tell her to stop. One thing I had learned through the years was to always let the hugger determine how long the hug needed to be. I would never pull away from her before she was ready. And the same went for Beth and Hal, and even Valerie and her kids when I saw them.
"I'm sorry, Daddy," she said into my chest, and I could hear the emotions clogging her throat. She hated causing me worry. Hated disappointing me. But fortunately for her, I couldn't maintain the stance I'd been so set on holding before she arrived. I was just relieved to know that she was all right.
"It all worked out in the end," I said, kissing the top of her head and brushing some of the frizzy curls away from her face. "I'm just glad everyone is safe."
She nodded against me and her muscles relaxed, sinking into the hug further now that she knew I wasn't mad at her. When she finally pulled back, tears were sparkling in her eyes, but she blinked them away as she caught me glancing past her to her brother. "You're not going to punish him, are you?" she asked pointedly.
I gave her the side eye. "His orders were clear," I said evasively.
"And so were mine, Daddy," she pointed out. "And I dropped the ball. Hal shouldn't have been driving, but I sent him home on his own anyway. And the deception plot was all mine. This is my fault. I was irresponsible. You can't punish Hal for just wanting to get home so he could feel better." Just as I'd suspected.
"I'll decide once I see for myself that you're alright," I said, crossing my arms over my chest and lowering my chin so she knew I meant business.
Her famous eye roll came out to play as she let out a frustrated sigh and splayed her arms out exactly the same way she'd done on the sidewalk with Hal, only this time she added a slow circle so I could see from all angles. "I'm perfectly fine, Dad!"
Unable to help myself, I smirked, cocking my head to the side. "Are you sure?" I asked. "Seems to me you've got a few bruises on your face. And what about this cast on your arm?"
She shook her head, a smile breaking forth as she tried not to laugh. "See?" she pointed out. "I'm no worse off than I was yesterday. Which means you can't punish Carlos either."
I cut my eyes to the man in question, then back to my daughter. "We'll see."
"Frank." Beth's warning tone from the hall behind me was all the prompt I needed to stop toying with the kids and let them inside. I stepped backwards, turning to the side with a sweeping gesture for them to enter. Hal moved forward, ripping his coat off and giving me a quick, one-armed hug, stopping only long enough to assure me that he, too, was okay when I asked, before moving on to his mother while Steph and Carlos followed a little slower.
He offered me a firm handshake, assuring me that it was good to see me again before taking off his coat and turning to help Steph with hers just as I reached to assist with tugging the sleeve off her cast where it had gotten caught. We both froze, eyes meeting, assessing, and I stepped away, allowing him to do the job. I watched him closely though, noting how gentle and careful he was with her injured arm.
"I made sandwiches for lunch," Beth announced, drawing all attention to her. "Hal, Steph, could you help me bring it all to the big table?"
Hal's eyebrows shot up. "As in the dining room table?" he asked nervously. He'd never been fond of eating in the dining room, which Beth had explained early on was because her late husband had dropped during dinner in the dining room when he was almost six. That's why we mostly ate in the kitchen, which was fine by me. I'd never been one to see the necessity of formal dining every night.
Beth chuckled, squeezing his arm reassuringly. "There's not enough room for all of us in the kitchen, Cuddlebug," she reminded him. "Grab the sandwiches and iced tea from the fridge and bring them to the table for me. Steph, can you manage the plates?"
They followed her to the kitchen and, recognising the obviously pre-planned situation, Carlos remained in the hall, standing in a relaxed parade rest. I nodded toward the living room, and he followed without a word.
"I'm not going to ask you what transpired last night," I told him because I didn't need to think about what had given my baby girl that glow. Her evasive response when I asked her if he'd done anything to her let me know far more than I needed to about her sex life, and while I thought it was a bit soon to be falling into bed with the man she'd only met in person once before, I also couldn't call her out on it, because that would make me a hypocrite.
Beth and I had connected on such a deep level at the football game that I'd known then and there that she was my soulmate. It scared the shit out of me to have such strong feelings for a woman I barely knew, but I couldn't stop thinking about her. And when we came together for our first date two weeks later, she clearly felt the same way. We almost hadn't made it inside my apartment before she was ripping my clothes off me. While I'd vowed to take things slow and make sure we'd built a steady relationship before I took her to bed and showed her exactly how much I felt for her, looking back, there was no way either of us could have lasted that long. Both of us were pent up and filled with a new and terrifyingly insistent love. We needed to release the pressure so that we could continue forward the way we wanted.
I could see it in both their eyes at the hospital, the way they looked at each other; they were meant to be together. Their passionate natures complement one another. I should have guessed that Stephanie and Carlos would be drawn together as swiftly as Beth and I.
"Nor do I intend to interrogate you about your intentions with my daughter," I added, holding firm eye contact as I crossed my arms over my chest. "I've seen your record. I know your history and your training. I know the things you have done on the orders from the government, the trials you've had to live through and keep locked inside. I know you are an honourable man and that you will treat Stephanie with the love and respect she deserves the same as she will with you." I paused, letting that sink in, and thought I saw a flicker of surprise behind his eyes when I admitted to the background check I'd done on him, but there was also respect there. "Let this serve as your first and final warning that if you harm a single hair on her body or make her feel less-than in any way, you will be answering to me. And I'm sure I don't need to explain that your body won't be found."
He took the news like a champ, probably having already drawn the same conclusion. "Sir," he started, but I shook my head, cutting him off.
"Call me Frank," I reminded him.
"Frank," he acquiesced, inclining his head ever so slightly. "With all due respect, if I ever did anything to hurt Stephanie, I would expect nothing less than to have you make me disappear. In fact, I would be grateful for the reprieve, because I wouldn't be able to live with myself. I've never felt this way about anyone before, and it would kill me to know I caused her pain."
"Well, that settles it, then," I said, clapping him on the shoulder with a smile. He'd just given me everything I needed to know. "If you ever do anything to hurt my daughter I'll let you suffer in it, because that's a far greater punishment. Welcome to the family." I gestured back toward the hall, indicating for him to precede me back to the dining room where Stephanie was waiting just inside the door.
She looked between us, assessing our expressions and postures, and narrowing her eyes suspiciously at me for the briefest second before turning to Carlos, her hand on his arm. "Is everything okay?" she asked.
Carlos nodded, tucking her close to his side and lifting her hand to press a kiss to the fingertips peeking out of the end of the cast. "Fine, Babe," he nodded. "Your Dad and I just needed to confirm we were on the same page."
Steph tried to raise one eyebrow and the other went with it as usual. "About?"
The expression on his face clearly showed how much he loved her, and the words out of his mouth clearly showed how smart a man he was to recognise when honesty was needed. "You."
"Did he threaten you, dear?" Beth asked Carlos, bustling past us with a bundle of the good napkins. "He promised he'd put the General away for the day, so if he threatened you–"
"Beth, I assure you, any threats I made were as a father, not as the General," I said. "Right Carlos?"
Ultimately, turning into the General to discipline my adult children for something that turned out fine in the end was a choice that would lead to alienating my family. I'd already watched my ex-wife alienate Stephanie by always trying to impose her arbitrary rules, ruining any hope they may have had for a healthy relationship. I wasn't about to follow her lead. I trusted Hal and Steph to be safe, always have each other's backs, and to come to me if they were in trouble. And in a round-about way, they had done so today.
Though they'd lied to me in the first instance, they'd developed a plan to complete the intended security measure. And, of course, when the plan had failed and they'd been caught out—Hal immediately confessed to their plot when he realised that he'd never received the confirmation text and that his sister could be in danger—Steph had stepped up to the plate to assume responsibility for her actions.
As for Carlos, his acknowledgement of my rank at the hospital was enough that I would never need to exert it when reminding him of my expectations of his treatment toward Steph. The unspoken, mutual understanding was that there was no true distinction between father and General where the protection of my children against outside forces was concerned.
Carlos met my gaze, almost like he could read the thoughts running through my head. "Right," he agreed. "And they were to be expected."
"Exactly," I said, moving further into the room to take a seat beside Hal squeezing his shoulder reassuringly as everyone else followed suit. "Now let's eat."